Lost Bonds
by Kalameet the Black Dragon
Summary: Four hundreds years ago, the dragon civil war started and changed the world as it was in many ways, from this age came monsters and demons as Acnologia, Zeref, E.N.D and even more. No one now know what happened back there except for a small group of people that not only knows their story, but also what happened to them before. NatsuxAcnologia Fem Acnologia.
1. Chapter 1

**Ok, I don't know if I'm insane or what: three stories…THREE FUCKING STORIES!? I think I'm aiming to suicide. Well that said, this is a new story a little different from my other one, I hope you will enjoy it, also I won't update this story regularly, just when I feel like it, so here we go… (If I won't post anything after this…that means I'm dead).**

 **P.S. for those who have already read this chapter: I decided to upload again this chapter because I noticed that the time line that I imaged was wrong so I had to change some dates, but don't worry, the timeline of the second chapter is correct it was only this one that was wrong but now not anymore, so sorry but I'm stupid.**

 **-Troubled beginning-**

 **7th-July-X357**

"This will work!" A young man with short dark hair and eyes of the same colour dressed with a high-collared and tan robes with gold trim and a white flowing toga draped around his torso said aloud frustrated. But who could blame him, after all it's been decades since he started his experiments on the life and death, all this only to do one single thing: reviving his little brother. The name of this person was Zeref Dragneel, once known as a genius among the students of Mildian's Magic Academy, but now known as the dark mage Zeref: creator of demons and murder of thousands of innocent people.

However, the truth is often different from what people say and this isn't an exception: before he became the dark mage, even before he went to Mildian Magic Academy, he lived peacefully with his family, his mother, his father and his little brother, Natsu. At that time, he didn't even image that he would became a wizard, he just wanted to live peacefully with his family. Still his dream ended the same day that his life ended: that day looked like any other, the sky was clear and everything looked like always Zeref and Natsu were happily play together, everything was so perfect and it was then that it appeared: a dragon. A mastodontic creature with unbreakable scales as skin, wings that surpass the size of a house and jaws adorned by sharp teeth that could break anything and from which came out flames that burn everything on their path. That monster unleashed torrents of fire on the entire city, destroy everything and killing everyone. Even his family died because of that dragon and he…he was the only survivor. From that day on he promised to himself that no matter what, he would revive his little brother, this lead him to become a magician, this lead him to study the life and death, this lead to his cursed existence and to where he was.

Ever since Natsu died he had preserved his body so that one day he would finally revive him and that day was today, he had finally completed his research and this time he would fulfil his promise. He was inside a large cave all around were bookshelves full of tome on the magic, shelves with glass containers, ampoules and other things, finally, in the centre of that place was a container with the shape of an egg made of a strange substance similar solidified resin and inside it there was a strange substance similar to water and the body of a small child about four years old with spiky pink hair and both his eyes closed.

Zeref looked at the little boy with a mix of sadness, expectation and happiness, he then he directed his magic power toward the 'egg' immediately the liquid inside it started to react and soon steam started to come out from it obscuring his view. He then shielded his face with one of his hand and waited to see if this time his attempt to resurrect his brother would be another failure or if he would finally be able to complete his goal. He then remained there not moving of an inch, scared of know what was the result, sure he was immortal and had all the time he wanted, but still he desired with all what was left of his human heart to revive his little brother, because so, he would also be able to finally die.

Ever since he was cursed with the curse of contradiction, he found himself unable to appreciate the life around him, otherwise the curse would kill it and slowly he started to ignore the life and desired to die. This continued for years, but at the same time the goal of reviving Nastu remained and it was then that he found the 'solution' to both his goal: he would revive Natsu but as something that would be able to kill him. During the last years he continued to study the secrets of life and death but he also worked hard to create a new kind of begin that would be able to kill him: the Etherious, or, as people call them, demons; and if he succeeded to revive his little brother he would have also created his final master piece, the most powerful etherious that he had never created: E.N.D., Etherious Natsu Dragneel.

Finally, the steam started to dissipate and soon it revealed the figure of an unconscious little boy with pink hair with dark markings all over his body and small demoniac claws instead of hands. Zeref stared at the small figure with tears in his eyes, even if he was tried to delete all his emotions, he still had some and now he could barely contain his joy: joy for begin finally able to see his little brother alive and to have created what will put an end to his sufferance. He then rushed toward the small child and hugged him tightly and noticed that now he looked completely normal: his demoniac claws were now little hand and the dark marks had disappeared as well and a book with the letter E.N.D. on its cover was resting on the ground near him. The dark mage then took the said book and put it in the folds of his dress, before he focused again on his little brother.

"Natsu…finally…" He muttered with his tears now free. He continued to hug for five more minutes and a part of him didn't want to let him go, but he knew that if he would stay near him, he wouldn't kill him and much worse, he might kill him with his curse; because even if he was an etherious he still was partially human and he didn't want him to die again. The dark mage then broke the hug and looked one last time at the sleeping face of Natsu: he seemed so innocent and defenceless, no one would say the he was the most powerful demon that he had created and it has to be so because, he intended to let him experience human life and then when he would be powerful enough, he would kill him.

He then clothed him and then left his laboratory inside that cave, heading for a city or a village, still he had an idea about where he could live a good life, before the time came in which he would kill him. Luckily, he had learned how to teleport during his cursed life, otherwise it would have taken day before he would reach the place where Natsu would live: it was a city of medium size for an age in which dragons could fly freely and destroy everything they wanted, so considering the amount of population there the dark mage thought that it would be safer than an isolated village, still, because of this amount of people, he must remain to the borders of the city, otherwise he would risk to be recognised or worse, he could lose control and kill who knows how many innocents and today there was a particularly high number of guards around. Immediately he understood that going inside the city was out of option, he then looked around, hoping to find a place where he could leave Natsu and he found it: it was an old large building with walls made of stone bricks with a few windows, a ceiling made of wooden beams and with the top of a fireplace on his right side, around it there were a pair of other building, though these ones seemed more like tool cutters and were much smaller in size compared to the main building, and even some cultivated fields and a well near them, moreover, near the entrance was a written that recited: 'orphanage Diligitis'. He then looked around again and noticed that a small group of three guards was heading toward his direction; knowing that he didn't have time to waste, he walked toward the entrance of the building that he saw before and put Natsu right in front of the door, he then looked one last time at the peaceful face of his little brother and a sad smile made its way on his face.

"Until next time we meet, farewell Natsu." He then quickly disappeared, leaving nothing of his passage and hoping that the guards hadn't saw him. Hopefully, it seemed that they didn't saw him, still when they arrived in front of the door, they remained surprised to see a sleeping baby around four years old alone there. One of the three guards then knocked and then waited for an answer, which came after only a pair of minutes as the sounds of footsteps that were slowly approaching and soon the door in front of them opened, revealing a woman around forty with long flowing light purple hair that reached her knees, eyes of the same colour and a kind smile that could reassure anyone. She was wearing a pair of glasses with oval lenses, a long dark dress with narrow sleeves and a long skirt that went down to her feet, where she was wearing a pair of fabric shoes. She then looked first at the two guards in front of her and didn't seem surprised by them, but when she lowered her gaze and noticed the small baby that was resting there and this earned a gasp of surprise.

"Is the princess here?" One of the three guards asked.

Still the woman didn't answer immediately and instead took the small child in her arms, making sure not to wake him up and noticing that there was a name written on a small sheet of paper: Natsu Dragneel. She then continued to look at the boy, hoping to find some more detail.

"Is the princess here?" The same guard of before asked but more insistently than before.

"Yes, she is back with the other." The woman replied, still eyeing the child in her harms, trying to find more details about him, but failing, maybe she would ask him directly later, but for now she would let him sleep.

"Then if you don't mind we will go and bring her back." Again, the guard continued, trying to enter in the building but before he could, the woman stopped him.

"It won't be necessary; I will take care of it." She answered firmly, clearly not intending to let them go inside and causing the man to took a step back, the aura around her was scary and no one could blame him for his reaction.

"Y-yes…but please do it quickly, we don't have much time." He muttered returning to his companion. Immediately the woman closed the door and looked again at the one that she was holding in her arms, she was currently inside a large room with the ceiling supported by beams, the walls were made of stone bricks and had one window on the left of the door, it was divided in four by some small wooden sticks and had its glasses, slightly dirty and cracked in some points. As for the rest of the room: it was rather bare, with only a chest under the window and an old chair together with a small table on the other side of the room. The woman than shifted his gaze from the child in her arms to another door in front of her and after walking across another pair of room she found herself in what looked like the dormitory, or so it could be said since it was a large room with only one window on its left side, a number of bed that was around fifty with nothing much, just a pair of small table, a chest and a basin put in one corner of the place. She then placed Natsu on one bed, before exiting from the room with a small smile. Hoping that the new arrived wouldn't cause too much trouble like the other child that lived there did and that he could get along with them, but right she would have to deal with another problem, she then walked toward the courtyard on the back of the building with a semi-exasperated expression.

 **8th-July-X357**

"Nnnh…" A light groan echoed in the same large room where the precedent day Natsu was left sleeping, but right now there was only one inside that place. Still he didn't really notice it, to say the truth he didn't know even where he was, the only thing that was sure that he was actually comfortable and he was ok with it.

"'yawn'…mmmh…" He murmured looking around with eyes half open and his mind still struggling to escape from the grip of the sleep.

"Where am I?" He asked to himself, his brain finally starting to woke up and work, but his face still had a sleeping expression, showing that he still wasn't completely awake. However, every second that passed, made his thoughts clearer and lucid. Still he was a child and currently he had a single question in his mind: how did he ended there? He didn't remember anything before he woke up, just his name: Natsu Dragneel. He then noticed a door on one side of the room where he was, it was slightly opened and it could be seen a ray of light coming from the fissure between the door and the wall; he then walked toward it: attracted from the good smell that he was smelling, which caused his stomach to grumble and he quickly brought his hands on it, trying to suppress the noise it was making. He continued to advance toward the door and soon he started to hear a sound coming from the room which it was connected: it was the sound of laughs and voices.

When he finally reached the door he slowly opened it and looked at the new place: it was at least twice the size of the room where he woke up for what concerned width and length, but it was of the same height. In its centre was a long wooden table with benches of the same material on both sides and both of them were children, they were about ten, some around his age, other around ten or so, still all of them had happy expression on their faces and many of them were laughing, while other, simply smiling. On the left side of the room was a large fireplace with a pot which contained probably the meal and from what he was smelling it was quite alluring, in front of it was a woman with long light purple hair, wearing a dark long dress with narrow sleeves, both her hands were covered by a cloth, probably to protect them from the heat. Near the fireplace was another table, this one higher than the one in centre and it also was formed by thicker beams and had various kitchen items over it, like a knife, a dipper and even a rolling pin; most of them were made of wooden or stone, only the blade of the knife and the pot in the fireplace were made of metal. He then continued to stare at the group of people in front of him, uncertain on what to do, but he didn't have the chance to choose, because his stomach grumbled again, only this time it was much louder than the other times and this caused the children and the woman to look at him, finally noticing his presence.

He then started to feel uneasy about all the attention he was receiving and was about to turn around and go back to the bed he was sleeping, when a voice stopped him.

"Finally you woke up. I was starting to fear that you would remain asleep still for a long time, well now that you're not asleep anymore, I think you should eat." She said with a divine smile that was able to calm himself, but he still remained uncertain on what to do and again he didn't have the chance to answer, because his belly begged again for some food. Earning a blush of embarrassment from the said child, a giggle from the woman and some laughs from the other children.

Slowly Natsu walked toward the table and sat on the first free place that he found, ending to sit near a boy of around his age, with dark hair and purple eyes, he was wearing a simple brown shirt with long sleeves, a pair of gray pants and shoes of the same colour as his top. He was looking at him with a genuine smile on his face and a glint of curiosity in his eyes.

"Here. I hope that it is of your liking." The woman said placing a wooden bowl in front of him, all this while maintaining the same reassuring smile of before. However, the attention of the pink, or salmon, haired child immediately shifted on the food right under his nose and he started to droll, earning a chuckle from the same person that served him the object of his attention.

"Now we can eat: itadakimasu." She called out before all the other children mimicked her, all except Natsu, who, upon hearing the words that allowed him to satisfy his hunger started to swallow his portion and before the other could finish their food, Natsu had already emptied his bowl and wanted more and was about to ask for a bis, before the child that was sitting next to him, stopped him. At first Natsu thought that he was doing it only to irritate him and looked at him with anger growing inside him. But then he gestured to the pink haired child toward the bowl that was used to cook their meal and after a few moments of staring and trying to figure out what he meant and then he finally understood: there was nothing more to eat. So, even if he was still hungry, he decided not to ask for more, not wanting to be rude to someone who already offered him a good meal and didn't asked anything in return. So he sat there in silence, luckily his belly decided to stay silent, for now.

'I hope that it won't annoy for a while.' He thought looking around and seeing that even the others had almost finished to eat, which only made him sigh in relief, since the view of them eating was making him only hungrier. Soon all of them left the table and ran toward a door to his right and just as they opened, the ray of the sun hit his eyes, forcing him to shield them, but it didn't last long and soon he could see clearly: in front of him was a large open field covered by some grass and with a small well on its centre and what looked like cultivated fields on its left. He saw the other child run and play every kind of play that came to their young mind: from chasing each other to hiding, by trying to build little structure with the earth to throwing some of it.

"'sigh' I hope they won't cause too much mess." A tired voice said. He then looked around and saw the same woman that had prepared the meal clearing the table from all cutlery and bowls that were still on the table. Natsu remained there, uncertain on what to do: he didn't know anyone there, neither he remembered anything before of waking up in a bed in the next room.

"Ehm…excuse me, why was I sleeping in the bed in the next room?" He asked to the woman.

"Because I found you asleep in front of our door, but I'm sorry I can't say you much more." She answered with a genuine grief; she loved each one of the child of her orphanage as if they were her own child and even if this one had arrived here just a few hours ago, she loved him as much as the others. So her inability not to help him was something that really grieved her.

"I see…thanks for everything." He said after a little pause, he had hoped that this kind lady would be able to give him more information about how he ended up there but unfortunately he was proven wrong, still he wasn't angry with her, how could he, the only thing she did was help him and it wasn't his fault if she didn't know about him, so he decided to simply go out and see what would happen.

When he exited from the building he observed what the child were doing and found that all of them had divided into small groups of three or four people and each one was playing a different game from the others. He continued to look at them and then he started to feel alone, all of them had someone which they could rely on while he didn't; yes, probably at first they were in a similar situation to the one he is into but this didn't help him to erase what he was feeling. He then continued to walk around, before he decided to sit near the well and started to space out with his mind: why did they left him, that was something he didn't know and maybe it was better so, because maybe if he knew the reason why he had been abandoned it would hurt him more. He then sighed in defeat and leaned his back on the stone bricks of the well. He remained there, his eyes closed and his mind refusing to think about anything, already full of questions that he could answer to. It was then that something unexpected happened.

"Hey you there!" A voice almost yelled. He then opened his eyes and looked around, until his eyes caught an image that was in complete contrast with the environment around: she had long blue hair, adorned with some expensive red hair firm, light blue eyes full of joy and curiosity, light skin and a naive smile that didn't show any malice. She was wearing a white dress with a long skirt with golden edges and adorned by red floral designs, she also had a pair of refined shoes of white with red decorations, which was quite unusual. His brain then put all these details together and after a first impression of amazement, he deduced that she wasn't a girl from that place.

"Hi, my name is Ruri. What's yours?" She asked with the same excitement and joy of before, but this time stretching a hand toward him. He then looked again at her and then at her hand, before extending his and accepting her handshake.

"N-Natsu…" He replied a little hesitantly, not expecting such thing to happen which caused him to be slightly surprised.

"Natsu eh? That's a pretty name and it suits you with those hairs!" She exclaimed and even if it was hard to believe she was even more excited than before, causing said child to be even more confused. At this point he didn't really know what to do and if she started to make questions about him…well that might be a problem. However, his attention quickly shifted to someone that seemed to be running toward them, quickly reducing the distance.

"Ruri…you have to…hide…" He said panting from the sprint that he just did. Natsu was confused of what was going on so he looked at the said child and saw her eyes widening in surprise, before frenetically looking around and then starting to run toward a small wood. At this turn of the events he was even more confused, why was she running away and why the other boy run to say that she had to hide. Wanting to have some answer he stopped to look at the point where the girl had disappeared and looked at the other child, it was then that he noticed that he was the same person that was sitting next to him while they were eating. He was around four like him, he had dark hair, almost black and dark brown eyes; he was as height as him and looked like he had just made the run of his life: sweet pouring down from his face and heavy breath.

"Hey, what's going on?" He asked, causing the other to rise his head and look at him, he then continued to pant for a little more, before standing straight. He was then about to answer, when some footsteps behind them, together with a voice that Natsu never hear before, stopped him from speaking.

"Where is the princess?" A tall man clads in an iron armor asked, he was wearing a heavy pectoral that shielded his torso and belly, his arms were covered up until his elbow by heavy metal gloves while the rest of the arms was endowed by a ring mesh, his legs on the other hand were in a similar situation, the only difference was that there his armor covered them completely. Only the head was exposed, showing the face of a man around fifty bald and with short light beard that covered the lower part of his face, one of his eyes was close and over it was a scar that run from his upper lip up to his forehead, his other one instead was of the same colour of the stone, showing a firm will and decision, but he didn't show any feelings of arrogance or superiority, as if he was putting himself in par with them. Still Natsu was a little scared by two things of that man: first his imposing form, to him he looked like a giant that could easily smash him and the fact that he was clearly angry with someone.

"I said: where-is-the-princess?" He repeated again, this time showing some signs that he was running out of patience, like the continuous rise and fall of his right food or the fact that both his eyes were starting to twitch. Instantly he looked at the other child near him, hoping to understand something of that situation, but he found that he literally sweeting bullets and seemed ready to run as if his life depended by it, which he was starting to think was the case, or was about to melt because of the fear. The man continued to stare at the dark haired child with a gaze that seemed to be able to pierce his mind and see what he was thinking. Not knowing what to do, Natsu continued to remain there still and stare at the scene that was taking place there.

"My, my, has something happened?" A calm and happy voice suddenly broke the tension. Immediately the three of them turned their gaze to look at the same woman that had cooked the meal that Natsu was able to eat before.

"Excuse me for the intrusion miss Rose, but the princess has disappeared and I think that he knows where she is." The armored man replied calmly.

"'sigh'…I apologize for the problem that we cause to you." She said bowing and looking straight at the dark haired child and at Natsu and causing both of them to look at both the bald man and at her.

"It's not your fault, I just desire to return back with the princess."

At these words Rose looked at the dark haired boy, who on the other hand started to panic but didn't say anything: he knew that he was cornered, but still something inside him didn't want to surrender and continued to resist. The situation seemed to have reached a dead end, in which no one seemed willingly to budge from their position. But everything ended when Rose let out a heavy sigh, catching the attention of the rest of the group there and breaking the tension in the air. She then looked one last time at the dark haired child before shaking her head with a small smile on her face.

"I think that you should let her remain here for a small while, after all it seems like no one here is willingly to reveal where she is…" She started, emphasizing the last words and causing the child to gulp.

"…therefore, would you mind to remain here for a while before returning to the castle?" She ended and looked at the man, who looked again at the dark haired child with a gaze that would be able to make everyone surrender to him, but despite the fear clear on his face the child didn't say a word and instead bit his lips.

"'sigh'…knowing this kid and the princess, this won't bring me to anything…I will accept your offer, but we will have to leave after lunch his majesty, has requested personally his daughter to come." He answered, showing that there would not be anything that would save the said person to come.

"I understand, Haru, go and advise the princess." Miss Rose said, looking at the said child, who nodded vigorously with his head.

"And take Natsu with you, I'm sure you will get along." She added stopping him and gesturing toward the other child with pink hair. She had noticed that he didn't seem to be very sociable and hoped that he would became friend with Haru and the princess, after all, thanks to her personality, she was able to be friend with practically everyone. Haru then gestured to Natsu to follow and after a moment of surprise mixed with hesitation he decided to go with him. After they were enough distant from the other, the dark haired boy finally spoke.

"Sorry if Ruri disturbed you." He said calmly, causing Natsu not to understand what he meant but then he remembered that he had called that blue haired girl with that name and then he understood that Ruri was the name of princess.

"Don't worry, actually I was only surprised, but she didn't cause any problem to me." He replied with a sheepish smile. To say the truth, he was actually happy that someone decided to talk with him.

"I'm glad to hear it. Ruri always act so with everyone and sometimes she can be a little…how can I say it…out of place, yes I think that's the right answer." He called out, but Natsu didn't have the time reply that a third voice interrupted them.

"You know that you shouldn't talk bad about other people, especially if they can easily make you regret your own words." Someone from below them said. They then looked up and noticed the same blue haired child of before sitting calmly on a branch of a tree with her legs dangling.

"I didn't say anything wrong and you should have chosen a better place to hide."

"Hey, I remained near so that if you needed my help I would be able to save you."

"Yeah, yeah, that said: Natsu this is Ruri, Ruri this Natsu." He presented quickly the two, before the said girl jumped down from where she was sitting and landing perfectly in front of the other two.

"Nice to meet you Natsu." She replied smiling and extending her hand toward the said pink haired child.

"Same for me." He replied cheerfully, smiling back and taking her hand with his own.

"Well now we have until lunch to play so any idea on what to do?" Haru asked and causing the other two to start to think about it.

"Why not a run: the last one that will arrive at the orphanage will have to do one thing that the winner will decide." Ruri proposed; despite what many could thought about her begin a princess, she never acted as such: she loved to play with others and always cared for them, she also was extremely curious and sometimes this trait of her could be a little annoying. But in the end she was a splendid person and when she will become queen, or, as Haru always said, if she would become, she will be a splendid ruler.

"Seems interesting. I accept your challenge." Natsu said cheerfully a wide tooth grin on his face and his eyes filled with excitement.

"I don't like this." Haru muttered but then decided to go along with it and prepared himself to run as fast as he could, because he didn't have any intention of lose.

"Well then…" Ruri started and immediately the other two took their stances and prepared to run.

"Ready…"

"GO!" Nastu suddenly shouted, surprising the other two. Almost immediately Haru followed him and started to run.

"EHI THAT'S NOT FAIR!" The blue haired child replied and tried to reach the other two.

In the while, Natsu was running as fast as he could and he was feeling happy, he had found two new friends and he felt like he could entrust his own life to them. He didn't really know why he felt as such, still he trusted his instinct. Still he didn't know one thing: that all this was only the beginning of something much more great than three simple friends.

 **Time skip: 2 years** **22th-March-X358**

"She hasn't come yet." A certain pink haired child muttered frustrated. It's been two years since he arrived there and those two years had been wonderful for him: during this time his bond with both Ruri and Haru had become unbreakable. They always played with each other, or talked about what they do and what they are going to do in the future. In particular, Nastu had developed a particular affection with a certain blue haired princess, which had been encouraged by Haru, who didn't think twice to leave them alone. Unfortunately, she couldn't always come, because even if she was his friend, she was still a princess and this often forced her to remain in the castle or to attend at some ceremony and today was one of those days: her father didn't let her go out from the castle and requested her, because he had to talk with her personally. How did he know all this? Because over the years, the same guard that had scared him and Haru to the death the day that he arrived there, had become another habitual visitor **(A/N please don't do jokes about this, because I know what many of you are thinking)**. He was the captain of the guards of the princess and his name was Cormeum and, despite his appereance, he was a kind heart person that took his duty very seriously but that also didn't mind about helping Miss Rose and the other child of the orphanage.

However, there was two things that he had noticed: first, lately the captain had started act strange, he was more reserved when he spoke and he seemed worried about something, but didn't tell them anything; the second one was the fact that even Ruri didn't come there to play with them as often as she usually did.

"NATSU! Come here, dinner is almost ready." Haru yelled from the room that was used both as a dining room and as a kitchen. On the other hand, said pink haired child was sitting with his back leaned against the well that was standing in the centre of the courtyard where all the child there played, his eyes were looking at the setting sun, which today seemed more beautiful than usual, the sun was slowly losing its bright colour, slowly turning from yellow to orange, the sky was of a beautiful deep crimson red like the blood while it slowly turned dark blue and then black, creating a perfect harmony of bright colours that slowly turned into darker ones.

"Rury would like it…" Natsu muttered, his eyes fixed on the setting disk of light and void of his normal living vivacity that characterized him.

"Yes…she would really like it…" He whispered one last time, before turning toward the place that had been his house for the last two years and walking toward the same door from which Haru called him.

"Finally, I thought that you would skip the meal." Said dark haired child said once he entered inside the room, clearly worried about how he was feeling. He also didn't like the fact that Ruri wasn't coming there as often as before, but it was obvious that Natsu suffered more than him so here he was, trying to cheer up his friend.

"Come on, don't make that face, that today there is stew!" He continued, but again, Natsu expression didn't change much, causing him to sigh in discomfort and making Natsu look at him.

"Don't worry, I'm just a little sad because Ruri didn't come." He reassured.

"I know and neither I don't like the fact that she didn't come, still seeing you making that face…" He replied, causing Natsu to scold himself for worrying his friend.

"…I mean, if you continue to do that face you will end up to look like an old man!" The dark haired child replied causing the other to look at him surprised and to smile at his attempt to help him.

"Maybe you're right, but now I am hungry and don't want to miss dinner." He concluded, walking toward the table where the stew was begin served, together with Haru, who seemed satisfied to, at least, begin able to help his friend, but, truth be told he still was feeling bad for the fact that his blue haired friend didn't show up. However, his friend and the dinner that was now waiting on the table in front of him were able to ease such feeling and just as he sat on the bench near the table, he started to droll at the sight of the stew, which combined with its smell was really appetizing and just as everyone were ready to eat, he devoured his meal in no time, earning a pair of chuckle from the others. Soon everyone had finished to eat, no one of them wanted to waste such delicious food, and just as it happened, they went to bed, desiring to have a good rest after the meal, but a certain pink haired child wanted to sleep just to wake the next day and find out that Ruri had come to play with them.

'Tomorrow is another day.' He thought, before his eyes closed and he went into the world of the dreams.

...

"Mmmmhh…" Haru muttered in his bed, he hadn't been able to sleep ever since he went to bed and this was frustrating, so he had spent the time thinking about everything which passed through his mind, hoping that he would eventually grow tired and then fell asleep. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case, so he ended up thinking by himself for who knows how much time, or so he thought. Tired of doing nothing but remain there, he decided to go out and drink some water from the well, maybe in this manner he would finally able to sleep once and for all. He then put on his shoes and cautiously walked toward the door, making sure not to wake up anyone and just as he reached the door, he slowly opened hoping that its wooden boards wouldn't creaked like every time they did and to strangely, this time luck was on his side, slowly he then closed it and headed toward the door that head in the yard where they always played and there it goes his usual luck: just when he was about to open the door he trampled one a draughty board, creating a crunch that made him froze on the place, he then slowly turned his head, praying with all himself that he didn't woke up anyone and when he saw that there was no one behind him, he let out a sigh of relief. Still he didn't move, instead he rested his back on the wall behind him before walking back toward the room where the others were sleeping. Slowly and trying not to make any sound, he again opened the door and looked at the small figures of his companions: he had lived there ever since he could remember, his father and mother had apparently died, the reason, unknown. However, before one of them died he or her, was able to bring him there.

Still, he knew that he wasn't the only one with such kind of problem and Natsu was just the last one, but to his surprise, he was able to became friends with him pretty quickly, something that didn't happen with all the others child there, which happened only once before with Ruri, thought in that case it was because of the fact that she was a very insistent and stubborn person, who never leave something in half. He remained there, lost in his thought and memories for around one hour and to his satisfaction, he finally started to begin sleepy and he was about to go to bed, when he heard a strange noise above him: it seemed like the sound of a pair of wings but extremely large and made of something tough. He then looked at the ceiling but didn't understood what it was, lucky him that there was a window near there, he then started to walk toward it, hoping to be able to understand what was the source of such noise.

However…before he could reach it he felt another sound that seemed like a hiss and before he could even think of what it was, he saw a blinding light descending from the sky and then everything went on fire. As soon as the fire hit the ceiling it started to break and fall, Haru remained there where he was petrified by what was going on, he then heard a loud roar coming from above, before the building was hit by another fireball, causing other pieces from the ceiling to fall and creating an opening in it and causing Haru to fall on the ground. He then tried to get up again, his mind finally starting to register what was happening, unfortunately just as he was on his feet again he stumbled against a wall, the smoke that he was breathing was already taking effect and confusing his thoughts, still he struggled to find a way out of there, but before he could move, he heard a loud roar coming from above, immediately he looked up and saw the huge figure of a monster, his body hidden by the shadows of the night and even the light that was produced by the fire didn't help him to see what was it, but there was one thing that helped him to recognize what kind of creature was flying above him: its wing, each one was as big as half of it body, both of them were made of leather and divided into four sections. It didn't take him too much time or energy to figure out what it was: there was just one kind of creature that had wings of such size and that could breathe fire and just as he realized what it was, panic and fear started to grow inside him.

'A dragon…' He thought before coughing, the smoke was increasing and his chance of breathing and surviving lessening. In a moment of lucidity his mind was crossed by one thing.

"Dammit…" He cursed under his breath and looking around, hoping to find a way to reach the room where the other were sleeping unfortunately, he was surrounded by pieces of the ceiling and the smoke wasn't helping at all, still what really worried him was another thing: Natsu, the other child and Miss Rose all of them were sleeping and if they weren't already awake, they soon would never be again.

'I have to…help them…' He was starting to feel dizzy and the air was starting to miss, however, he didn't give up and continued to look around. Finally, he saw it: an opening, a hole in a wall close to him that could help him to reach the others. Not thinking a second time about it, he ran toward it and arrived in another room that wasn't completely engulfed in flames, hoping to be able to reach his target, but he was proved wrong, because a few seconds after he entered in the room he heard another fireball and then the ceiling over his head collapsed. He remained there petrified by the fear fire falling from above, time seemed to slow down but he wasn't able to move and then everything went black.

…

…

'cough cough…cough…' Someone coughed, trying to breath, the smoke that he had breathed was still obstructing his respiratory tract. Slowly he opened his eyes: his vision was blurry, another effect of both fire and its smoke and all its body was sore, yelling him so stay still. He then blinked a few times, clearing his vision and then looked at his body: he was wearing a simple white shirt and a pair of trousers, but both of them were partially burned or ripped, also he noticed that even his body had suffered various kind of wounds like burns and cuts of various size and had bruises on its right arm, on his right side and even on both legs.

He looked again at his body, before having a sudden deciding to try to get up: at first he sat down on the ground, his energy still at limit, then he tryed to stand on his feet, but he just as he was getting up, he fell on the ground again a coughed, frustrated he tried it again only this time he was stopped by someone.

"You should rest for now, it's a miracle that you're still alive..." A voice said from behind him, placing both his arms so that he sat on the ground, still he wasn't forcing him neither hurting, he was instead doing his best not to hurt him more than how he already was.

"…otherwise the princess won't forgive you, Natsu." Said pink haired child looked at the source of the voice and was met with the face of a certain guard's captain. At first he was confused as why he was there, but he was even more when he noticed that he also had some cuts and burns on his body, thought they were less serious than his, also his armor was damaged with some dents and blackened, like it had been exposed to the fire.

'Wait…Fire!' Suddenly Natsu felt a sharp pain on his head and instinctively brought a hand on it, image, sensations and smells flow into his head causing him to close his eyes, hoping to less the pain. Then, he remembered, the smell of smoke and of burned wood, the smell of smoke, the screams and the cry of the others. Immediately he forced his body to stand up, yelling it to obey him but again he was forced down by the same man of before.

"Natsu stop…" Coremum tried to talk with him and to made him think about what he was doing: he was weak, his body suffered many wounds and the smoke that he breathed almost killed him and it still was giving him problems to breath. But still he continued to struggle, even if it was too weak to even bother him, he still didn't want to worse his condition, he had already suffered enough.

"LET ME GO!" He screamed, eyes closed and tears welling on the edge of his eyes.

"I HAVE TO GO! I HAVE TO SAVE THEM! THEY…"

"STOP IT NATSU! THERE IS NO ONE TO SAVE ANYMORE!" The man yelled frustrated, now even him was on the verge of the tears.

"No…you can't mean…" Natsu muttered, his voice more similar to a whisper and full of one thing: grief. His vision was again blurry, only this time it was because of the tears that were now streaming down from his face, he then looked at the man in front of him, asking for an answer, but he only shook his head to say yes. At this moment, he fell on his knees, everything around him started to look like an illusion, even his body seemed not to be real, he looked again at the man in front of him and when he saw his tear, everything around him seemed to disappear. His body started to fell but was caught by the man and it was then that he started to cry: a cry of desperation, the cry of someone who had nothing and lost everything, the cry of a baby that experienced what the real world is sooner that he should has, that was the cry of Natsu Dragneel.

 **24th-March-X358**

'Soft.' That's what Natsu thought while he struggled to continue to sleep: part of him saying to wake up but the other wanted the opposite. Finally, he was forced to wake up when a ray of light hit one of his eyes. Slowly he opened it and then started to get up with a loud yawn, which showed how tired he was when the last night went to…

Suddenly his thoughts stopped and so did his body, the memories of the what happened returning stronger than before. Two days ago when all of them were sleeping, a dragon had attacked their home, burning it completely and killing everything that he saw as still alive, he could still remember its roars the noise of when he shot its fireballs. Just that memory made his body shiver in fear. From what Coremum had told him, he was the only survivor, the other child died because of the fire or the smoke or were killed directly by the dragon, even Haru, his best friend, died in the building, as for Miss Rose, she was able to escape form the building with two other children, but then they died because of how much smoke they inhaled. After that he was taken to the king palace on insistence of Ruri so that he could be cured properly. However, it looked like during their analysis the doctors had found something pretty interesting inside him, which caused the king to want to talk with him personally. He then let out a heavy sigh, followed by a tear which was quickly wiped out. He was currently inside Ruri's room and was surprised by how it looked like: the ceiling was two and half metres over the floor and it was slightly sagging on the corners, making it look like some sort of dome, it was dark blue in colour with white decoration on the corner, the room was extremely large, resulting to be at least seven meters large and ten long. As for the furniture: it was composed by two large wardrobes made of dark wood, which was in contrast with the white walls behind them; still the most surprising thing about them, was their size: in fact, Natsu was pretty sure that even if Coremum entered inside one of them, there would be still space for another person and this was quite something. He also noticed the drawers on both sides of the beds and a library that surpassed the wardrobe's size and it was full of book about every kind of things: from novels of every kind to political books, from essays of story to others about geography. The wall in front of the bed was dived into three parts by two large windows that opened onto a large external balcony, while between them was a finely worked desk with some papers on its sides and some books on a shelf over it, also the wall on the left of the bed was in similar condition, but, this one was entirely formed by one single window that opened onto the same balcony as the other two. As for the other two walls of the room, both of them had some paints attached on them and were white in colour. In the end, the floor was green grass, its colour mixed perfectly with the white of the walls in the points where they met and it was partially covered by a red carpet that at touch seemed made of cloud, for how soft and comfortable it was.

Closing his eyes, he let out a deep sigh and waited. Sooner or later someone would come to bring him to the king or so they told him, so it was better of he used this time to clear his head and to rest. Still, he wasn't the kind of person that liked to remain still for too much time, so he jumped off from the bed and headed toward one of the windows, at least he wanted to see how was the outside world today. However, even if the Ruri's bedroom had stunned him, the same happened when he saw the balcony: the floor was made of white stone divided in small square sections and limited by stone fence. He also noticed that there was a bench right in the centre of the place, it was made of small wooden boards, supported by wrought iron support. However, the true that he most appreciated was the view that the balcony granted: it was over fifteen meters above the ground and he could see all the city around the palace, it was an exciting view. Still the more he looked at that scenario, the more his eyes looked around in search of one particular thing and then, he saw it: the blackened remains of his home, the place were during the past two years he had felt really at home, there he had found people who loved him and cared for him, people like Miss Rose or even Haru who understood him and always liked to play with him. But now…he was alone, all the other died, some because of the fire and others because of the smoke, still all he could feel was a great sense of emptiness and sadness. Slowly, tears started to form on the corners of his eyes, his eyes fixed on his old home and his memories of that place flashing in his head. He remained there, his arms crossed under his chin, resting on the fence of the balcony and his face fixed in a void expression.

"I'm sorry…" A voice next to him whispered. Slowly Natsu turned his head to see who was and remained surprised to see that it was none other than Ruri, but thinking more accurately about it he shouldn't be surprised that she was there, after all that was her room. Still he decided to remain silent and looked at her face: he could see her hair were still in order, but to him they seemed messier than usual and then her face and eyes, the first still had some signs of tears, showing that she was also sad about the fact, as for the others, they still were blue, but they had lost their usual vivacity and joy that always characterized them. Slowly, even her started to cry and sob.

"I'm sorry…" She whispered again, this time her voice clearly showed how broken she was and it took her everything not to fall on her knees.

"It wasn't your fault." He finally replied, his voice firm. He still was suffering for his loss, but he wasn't someone who would go around, giving the fault to the first person that come to mind and certainly he wouldn't say that it was Ruri's fault, after all she was suffering as much as him and even if she would be there…he didn't want to thought about what would have happened to her.

"But…I'm the princess…it's my duty to protect people and…I failed…" She replied, this time falling on her knees and sobbing even more than before. This time Natsu didn't know what to say and decided to do what his instinct was suggesting him: he walked toward her and gently helped her to stand up again then he looked directly into her eyes, they were full of sorrow, grief and many other emotions; he continued to stare into her eyes and slowly, the river of negative emotions inside them started to calm down, then he hugged her and soon she mimicked the gesture, other tears and sob were shared by both them but soon disappeared leaving the two of them in complete silence.

"Thanks…" Ruri muttered, she had never been so happy and grateful to have a friend that could support her.

"You're welcome." Natsu replied, again looking at her eyes.

Finally, after two good minutes of staring, he understood what he was doing and turned his head in embarrassment before breaking the hug and walking again toward the edge of the balcony a small blush forming on his face. As for Ruri, she didn't understand his gesture immediately, but her mind finally connected all pieces and caused her to have a giant blush on her face. The two continued to stay so for a while, the embarrassment of the situation slowly disappearing.

"E-em…my father requested that to speak with you." The blue haired child said, her face turned in the opposite direction of where Natsu was, a small blush still present on it.

"A-ah…o-ok, I will come immediately…" He stuttered, steam coming out from his ears. Then he turned his head and walked toward the door, hoping to be able to eliminate the still present feeling of embarrassment. However, as soon as he reached the door, he remembered one thing: he didn't know where the king was waiting for him and even if he knows it, he didn't know how to get there.

"My-my father is waiting for you in the throne room…i-if you want I can show you w-where it is." She said, still thinking about what happened before.

"T-Thank you…" Natsu answered, even if he wanted to be alone to calm himself, he had to ask for help to Ruri. So he decided to accept it.

"W-Well then…follow me…" She ended the conversation opening the door and starting to walk toward their destination, followed by Natsu.

 **Time skip: 23 minutes**

'Doors…' That's what Natsu was thinking and it wasn't as if someone could blame him, after all, he had spent the last twenty minutes, following Ruri everywhere and he was sure that he had walked for more than half of the entire palace before he was there. In front of him was a door larger than the other that he had seen: it was two and half meters in height and made of light wood, divided into coffer and decorated with floral motifs. He remained there, staring at it for a few moments, before Ruri walked toward it, intentioned to open it. Natsu was then about to say that he would help since it was impossible for a single child like them to open such a big door, maybe if they were two, but still he wasn't sure about it. He was about to speak, but before he could even say a word Ruri knocked. This left him surprised, causing him to mentally slap himself and shook his head for how stupid he was.

"Here we are now." She muttered while the door slowly opened by the other side, revealing a huge transparent glazing at the bottom of the room with a laboured wooden throne in front of it and on it was sitting a man around forty or more with short light bread and hair of the same colour, but more tending to gray, light green eyes that seemed to scanning every inch of his begin. His face had only a few slight wrinkles near the mouth. He was wearing striped overalls, held up by a belt at the waist under a cape, the first one was black in colour, while the other was dark gray. The figure seemed regal and cold, as if he didn't have any emotion and to say the truth he didn't know what to think of him. Still, seeing where he was and his situation, he knew that the person in front of him was none other than the king himself, so he didn't have much of choice about how to treat him. So he simply followed Ruri and stopped in front of the throne, before kneeling, earning a small grunt of satisfaction from the man in front of him.

"Natsu Dragneel, that's your name, right?" He asked with calm and moderate voice, but what surprised Natsu was his voice didn't show any arrogance.

"Yes…your majesty…" He replied after a quick glance toward Ruri, who was now standing a few meters away from him on his left.

"Hm…I see, when you were unconscious, the doctors that took care of you noticed something: it seems like you have a great magical power, which is rare thing today." He paused and shot one glance toward a man in white long robe wearing a pair of glasses which he nervously adjusted, before looking at some papers that he was holding in his hands and then nodded in the direction of the king.

"So, since your old home was destroyed, I decided to take you in and to make you train, so that your power will be able to help our current situation…" He then stopped to let Natsu assimilate what he just said and when he thought that he could continue, he spoke again.

"…that said: Natsu Dragneel, what's your answer?"

"I agree." He answered, almost immediately. However, ever since he came there he had felt strange: his mind was extremely clear and could analyse everything around him at such speed that scared even him, it was like up until now he had slept and now he was finally awake.

"Very well, then you can now go, our…"

"Father, may I could show him where is his bed room, after all our 'domestics' are busy in other works." Ruri cut off her father, earning a cold glare from him, which she replied with one that showed how firm she was.

"Very well, but after that you will come here."

"Yes, father." She answered walking toward the door, followed by Natsu. Still, the latter one noticed that now his head was starting to return to normal, losing its lucidity of before.

'sigh'

Ruri sighed just as they were enough far from the throne room: her eyes closed and her expression a bit exasperated, but she didn't stop to walk.

"Are you alright?" Natsu asked concerned.

"Hu, yes…it's just my fater, sometimes he stresses me, but it's nothing much." She replied, opening her eyes again, before stopping in front of a large white wooden door, which she immediately proceeded to open.

"This is your room." She said and then he proceeded to enter: the room itself was huge for his standard, but to a closer inspection it was a little smaller than Ruri's one, still he didn't mind about it; as for the furniture, it wasn't that different from the one that his blue haired friend was and the walls were white in colour, while the roof was gray, as for the floor: it was covered by a red carpet.

"I hope that you're ok and…I'm sorry for what happened…" She said apologetically, clearly sorry that the place that represented for both of them a house had been destroyed and that their common friend, Haru, had died. Still she was a bit happy that she wouldn't be 'alone anymore in that palace.

"No, you don't have to apologize and don't worry, I'm sure everything will go alright." He replied, causing her to smile.

"Thanks…now I have to go, see you later." She said, before closing the door and walking away, probably to his father. Natsu then sighed and let himself fall on his bed.

'Yes ì, everything will be alright…' He would never forget the two years that he passed with Haru and all the others, they were a priceless treasure. However, he wasn't going to let himself brood on what happened. No, they would want him to move forward and live his life and he sure would, after all he still had a friend with him. With that thought he closed his eyes and soon the sleep came, his face adorned by a smile.

 **I'm alive, yes, I'm insane, I already was, I'm exhausted…is it really necessary that I answer to this? Well, however, I don't think that the other chapters will be as long as this, also, little note: next chapter will be last chapter in the 'past', before we move to 'present' time. So look forward to it.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Ok, this is the last thing that I expected…35 followers and 21 favourites…all this in less than four months…'BRAIN IMPLOSION'**

 **Jokes apart, I am more than surprised by this result, I posted this new story for no precise reason and the result surpassed all my expectations. Also I hope that this chapter won't disappoint your expectations and I remember you that from the next chapter on, the story will move on the present times, the one in which Fairy Tail adventures happen, so good reading and see you at the end.**

 **-The End of Your World-**

 **22th-March-X369**

"It's like ten years ago…" Natsu said sadly while looking at the setting sun: its colours, the same as the day that he lost everything.

Ten years…it's been ten years since the attack of the dragon at its previous house. Ten years in which he had lived with Ruri in the palace, which was something he didn't dislike and instead both him and her had started to see each other in a different light. Still, during these years, it hadn't been all 'rose and flowers': in fact, while his presence was more than welcomed by Ruri, the same couldn't be said for her father, who always saw Natsu as nothing more than a subordinate and nothing more and didn't hesitate to use to complete the most dangerous kind of missions: which could be an extermination of some kind of wild beast or taking care of groups of bandits or so. However, Natsu didn't care about it, especially now that a dragon civil war had begun, not that it was a surprising thing. After all it was clear to many that dragons were divided into two manner of thinking: one that wanted to live peacefully with humans, while the other saw humankind as nothing more than food.

The war started about three years ago when he had just his work for the king and it soon escalate, bringing destruction and death on both sides, still, it was soon clear that the one with the upper hand was the side that treated them as food, this forced the other side to develop a new kind of magic, a magic that would allow humans to fight against dragons: dragon slayer magic.

Then, he appeared. No one knew exactly who he was or from where he came, but one thing was certain he was powerful. Exitium, that's the name he used, and in his opinion, there couldn't be a more fitting name: he suddenly appeared on the battlefield just one year and half ago and killed everyone there, leaving nothing behind if not what his name meant. Ever since then he started to appear during other battles, killing everyone that stood in his way and leaving a few alive, which were able to escape to his fury only for luck and often ended up dying a few months after that they encountered him; the reason: his magic; it appears that if come in contact with his magic, inside you start to develop some sort of cancer that slowly kill the infected. Apparently it didn't seem to be a true scheme behind Exitium's apparitions, but Natsu didn't think that he simply appeared randomly, but he couldn't figure out the scheme behind.

"Admiring the sunset?" A voice behind him asked. Blinking his eyes in response, Natsu slowly turned his head, only to be met with what he considered as one of the most beautiful view he could see: there in front of him stood Ruri, the princess of Crocus and heir of the throne, but to him she was a childhood friend and, even if he still hadn't confessed, the person he was in love with. Over the years she had matured in both body and mind, but two things didn't change of her: first, she still kept her hair long and in slight disorder, giving her an unkempt impression, second, her cheerfulness, she was still the same joyful girl that he met over ten years ago.

"Yes and remembering the past." He said a little sad. When he was around Ruri, he didn't hide his pain, neither she did. Both deeply trusted each other, to the point that they would probably risk their life. But to this point, both were starting to ask if it was simple trust or something more like love. Still, the two teens had their mind busy about thinking something other and it wasn't something really positive.

"Was it so the sunset that day?" Ruri asked again: that day she didn't have the chance to leave the palace, her father forced her to remain there because so that she didn't skip her private lesson, which, in her opinion, could be as boring as hell, especially that of that day.

"Yes, it was…" The pink haired teen continued, his head still turned toward the setting sun, which was slowly disappearing over the horizon, slowly leaving the sky to the night and its stars.

"Tonight there won't be the moon." She called out, looking at the sky and noticing that the moon was nowhere to be seen and desiring to distract Natsu from his memories. Memories of something she hadn't seen, nor experienced directly, but only heard of and maybe it was better so, otherwise, who know how she would react. The night she had been informed of the events, she cried for hours, until her tears were all gone, her eyes red and her face striped by the cry. One of the few things that helped her not to fall in complete despair, was the fact that Natsu was still alive, a true relief to her and she didn't even want to image what would have happened if it wouldn't be for him.

"I heard that in other country they call it 'new Moon'." He replied while begin still focused on the sunset, his mind still recalling what happened that day of ten years ago.

"Well, I think it's a fitting name, since today will change many things." She said, walking to his side and leaning on the wall of the balcony where they were.

"Indeed, it will." He responded with bitterness in his voice while walking toward the corridor behind them, he wanted to be left alone in his room to think. Tomorrow sure would change many things, but he wasn't really fond of it: ever since the attack of ten years ago, the capital was attacked only two more times and neither of them caused much damage. Still, the dragon civil war was escalating quickly and their king feared that soon their city will end up in the middle of the battlefield, a well-founded fear in his opinion, so, in order to avoid of begin unprepared to more possible attack, he decided to ask for the help of the dragons themselves and tomorrow two of their king would be here to choose two people that would became dragonslayer. And that was what he didn't like, the fact that two dragons, king nothing less, would be here and have practically the entire city at their mercy. As for the reason of why he didn't like dragons, well it was pretty obvious, it was because of one of them that he lost his home, it was because of their kind that all his friends died, it was because of them that he and Ruri suffered for years and it was because of them that they often had nightmare of what happened that night.

"Natsu…I know you don't like dragons, but…this is the only way to protect ourselves from other dragons that might want to kill us." Ruri said, she knew how Natsu felt about this kind of things and she could also deduce it from his voice. Not that she could blame him, but at least she hoped he would have contained his hate.

"I know, but I don't like it and this opinion won't change." He concluded with even and collected voice, desiring to put an end to the conversation, but not wanting to be rude with Ruri, after all she was his only and true friend and he really loved her, but he couldn't master the courage to to confess to her. Probably if there would be Haru or Cormeum, they would have spurred him to say what he felt, but neither of the two was there with him anymore.

'Yes…it was because of them that he also died…' He thought walking in the palace and making his way toward his room: five years ago, before the war started, a dragon attacked Crocus for the third time, but instead of attacking the city itself, he preferred to burn the farms around, destroying both the house and the cultivated fields. Many panicked once they saw the creature breathing fire on the outskirt of the city, other were too scared to act but didn't lose themselves; only a few people reacted to the danger and went to help the farmers and their family and within these few people was the captain of the royal guard: Cormeum.

He didn't hesitate for a second to rush in the middle of what was happening and rescue everyone he could. But no matter how many lives he and the few other people, that were able to go overcome their fear, saved. The dragon didn't stop his rampage and instead he breathed fire over the land even more furiously, desiring nothing more than seeing humans and their homes burning in his flames. Soon the fire had almost surrounded the city and the dragon seemed not to be satisfied, when a roar in the distance attracted his attention and immediately, the dragon flew away, disappearing in the night and leaving behind a scorched land and hundreds of burned corpses and between those corpses was the captain of the royal guard: he died in attempt to save two child that had remained stuck inside a burning house, but unfortunately, when he managed to reach the two, the roof collapsed over them, burring them with fire and wood. The following day, were celebrated the funerals to honour his death and that of every other man, woman and children that died in that burning inferno. Everyone were present, even the king and the princess, only one person wasn't there: Natsu.

To him Cormeum had been like the father he never had: he teached him how to fight with both his fist and a sword, he teached him to never give up and if he wouldn't be for him and Ruri, he would probably be mumbling over the event of ten years ago. They were his family, but again he was powerless in front of the world, in front of those who killed the ones he loved twice: dragons. At that point he hated dragons, they were the one responsible for the death of his loved ones, still he was powerless in front of them, any human was, but this didn't stop him. It only changed the target of his attention. So, instead of killing dragons, he focused on one other thing: protecting Ruri, she was the last person that he really cared for and he would be damned before he would let her die: he already lost too much and if she would lose even her, then he doubted that he would be able to go on, especially now that the dragons were arriving, especially now that his love for her was stronger than ever.

"Seems like I made it without getting lost." he said while opening the door of his room. No matter how much time he walked in those corridors, no matter how many years he had lived there, sometimes he still got lost in the infinite ensemble of corridors, doors and stairs that that place was. Seriously he had been in forest where the light barely came that were much less complicated than that place that was his 'home'.

'Sometimes I ask myself if they did this just for the fun of seeing people getting lost or if it's for their fun of having to solve this labyrinth every time.' He thought, falling on his bed, which was much smaller than that of Ruri, but he didn't mind it and to say the truth he kind of preferred a more rustic style and his room was the proof of it: the place was a 5x5 room with plain white walls, which he kind found boring, he would have preferred a cobblestone wall, ceiling of same colour, with a small candelabrum of iron, which was barely enough to light up the place, his bed was on the right of the door and was made of dark wood, like most of his furnishing, and had a soft mattress, which was a true blessing when he returned from his mission. He also had a desk on the opposite side of the room, which he didn't use very much, but better having one that not having, so he decided that it could be useful,, near it was then a wide window, which allowed the light of the sun to light up his room during the morning, he also had a small library, he wasn't really the kind of person that loved to read but he knew how useful it could be, so he kept some books about geography, creatures of various kind and magic, he also kept some maps, just in case. As finishing piece of the furniture was a large chest, that was left half open and was full of things of all kind: they some small memories of Natsu of his travels and missions, just to make him remember what he was able to accomplish and the mess he sometimes generated. Still, today he wasn't in the mood to take a dip in the past, he needed some silence, which was something he rarely needed of to reflect on what was about to happen and no matter how much he analysed the benefit they would gain: he didn't like the fact that a pair of dragons came there. However, it wasn't like he could do anything to stop it, so he decided to let it drop. But there was one thing, one single thing, he would bulge.

"I won't let them harm anyone." He said more to himself that to anyone else, not that there was someone there to hear him but he still said it aloud and just as he did, his thoughts came to Ruri. No, he would let them take away even her, even if it would cost him his life, he would protect them, no matter what. But soon his consciousness started to fade, tiredness growing inside him, it had been a though day for him and he really needed to rest, so without thinking two times, he closed his eyes and let the sleep take over, hoping of begin able to rest properly.

 **23-March-X369**

To say that he didn't rest was an understatement, because he actually felt as tired as before he went to sleep, if not more. Still here he was, leaning against a tree with his arms crossed and a facial expression that didn't show any kind of emotion, but inside him, he was feeling pretty different. Still the reason of this was the two dragons a few meters away from him: he was woken up early, earlier than he does, in the morning by Ruri, then after taking breakfast and dressing in proper manner, in his case dressing that he could fight, if necessary, without that the dress could give him problems, so he opted for a black waistcoat with short sleeves, a white skirt, a pair of black long pants and dark boots, the latter two begin made of leather so that they would resist better than the upper part to the fire. Once they were ready then, they all walked toward the destination and shortly after their arrival the two dragons arrived and even he didn't like dragons, he had to admit that these two had an air of nobility and pride around them, but not the one that put you on a lower level, but rather one that simply showed their personality. This helped him not to constantly glare at them and release killing intent, but didn't reduce his hate. After all, what their kind did to him wasn't something that could be forgiven so suddenly. Still he took a good look at both of them, so that he would be able to understand which was their element and their possibly weakness: both of them were massive in size, but while one was dark red, with the belly's scales begin light coloured, and with a rather squared figure, the other seemed to be older and more experienced, his skin begin black with a long strip of purple scales larger than the other on the belly and a strip of purple feather on its back that run from the head to the tip of the tail, also there were various scars all over his body, some looked like the work of claws, while other like bites, but all of them were dark purple in colour. Its head was also smaller than that of the other dragon and having some ridges with scales like feathers on both its sides, the front limbs were also pretty massive and had four claws, the rear ones, instead seemed shorter, but that was only because of his position, the tail was long and cut the air almost as a whip. Finally, the wings, these were very different from that of the other dragon: the dark red one in fact had long and large wings, divided in a total of four section and with a leather membrane. The other one instead had long wings, formed only by one arms and instead of membrane, they had dark long feathers with purple tip. The last detail that Natsu looked at were the eyes, this because he had developed the ability to understand what kind of people someone is by looking at them in the eyes and he thought it wasn't much different with dragons: the first one had circular shaped eyes with dark sclera and dark slit pupils, the second one, instead had long thin eyes with blue sclera and dark slit pupils. Both didn't seem to harbour any kind of malice toward them, this eased him but he didn't let his guard down. Still, the more he looked into their eyes, the more he understood that they wouldn't betray them, but this didn't make his suspects disappear, still he was brought out from his mind once the black dragon spoke.

"Mmmh…seems like you're the only one suitable to receive my power." The black dragon said looking at a certain blue haired girl, causing her to tense a bit and making Natsu's brain to yell him in danger, as for the king, he tried to remain composed but he was about to took his daughter away from there, he didn't want her to begin involved in the war, but here she was, forced to go on the battlefield, he wanted with all himself to stop her as her father, but as a king he couldn't and he knew that she would most likely decide to accept.

"So what is your answer?" The dragon asked again, knowing that he couldn't have an immediate response from her, but he decided to push a little so that she would reflect carefully about such decision.

"I agree." She declared without a second thought, she had made up her mind: she would protect her people. It had already been three times that she was helpless in front of the danger, yet she always survived but she lost many dear ones: Haru, Cormeum and everyone other from the orphanage. Now who would be the next? Natsu, she wouldn't let it happen, yes he was already enough powerful to take care of himself, still she would be a hindrance anymore, she would help him and wouldn't let him suffer again, he already did it too much.

"Very well, then take this." He said with a voice that was deeper than any human one could be, this and his gaze on her frightened her a little, but she walked toward him and then he rose one of his claws, so that it was on par with her, then he opened it and a black, red and blue sphere appeared in his palm and slowly it floated toward Ruri, who extended her hand toward it and as soon as it came in contact with her palm, it started to disappear in the blunette. After a few seconds the sphere was nowhere to be seen and everything looked like before.

"How do you feel?" The dragon asked, his voice as deep as before and his eyes fixed on the girl.

"As usual…I guess…" She answered, looking at her hands as if they were some kind of strange treasure then again at the large black dragon.

"Very well, it will take you some time before you will be able to fully control this magic, but once you will, you will be able to fight a dragon and even kill it. Still, don't waste this power." He said, his eyes fixed. His voice the same as before but anyone with a small amount of good sense could see that his words weren't to be underestimated.

"Igneel…did you find someone suitable for your magic?" The same dragon asked again, this time looking at the other dragon, who had been watching the people that had arrived there after they landed and, much to someone disappointment, Natsu had been to focused on what was happening to the dark red dragon. This, allowing him to even attack them behind their back if he had wanted to. Yes, there were also other person there that could notice what he was doing, but he was one of the only two people that could have some hope of fighting against him and didn't begin killed by one single attack from his claws or mouth. This lead him in grunting his anger toward himself and causing the dark red dragon to look at him. Feeling his gaze, he returned what seemed to be curiosity with a cold and menacing glare, which was in total contrast with how he acted when he was a child. But, time change people and after what he went through it was impossible for him not to change, he still cared deeply for Ruri and few other people that helped him sometimes, but he also felt great resentment against the dragon kind, but he also wasn't so stupid to attack every dragon he saw. Despite hating them, he knew very well that no all of them were evil, this leading to his current state, in which he wouldn't kill every dragon he met, but also would still hate them.

"I think I just found one." Igneel replied to the other dragon question, a smirk forming on his face while he continued to stare at the pink haired teen.

"Say boy, would you accept my power?" He asked, making Natsu understand what he meant, but he remained surprised that he had choose him, after all he was sure that there were other people that could be chosen, still he didn't question this and maintained a neutral face, not desiring to show his thoughts.

"I accept." He answered after a moment of thinking: he was a bit upset for this decision, after all he was accepting a new power from a dragon, the same kind of creature that took away something dear to him twice. Still he wasn't stupid and know that with his actual power he couldn't face one of this giant creature, maybe survive, but not fight it. So the reason that lead him to accept this were two: the will to protect her and the desire of taking his revenge. In the while Ruri was worried for Natsu, she had accepted to receive this power to protect her people and him, but if he would have to fight, then she didn't that she would be able to accomplish the second thing. Desiring to stop him, she was about to walk toward him, when he shot her a look that showed everything: his decision, the reason behind them, his hate and even the love he felt for her. This made her heart skip for a moment and a small blush appeared on her cheeks, but, lucky her, no one noticed, otherwise she would have probably died from embarrassment. Still, these thoughts were soon replaced by concern, she could understand that he still couldn't get over what the dragon had don, neither she pretended him to do, but still, the fact that he wanted revenge worried her. Deciding again to stop him, she tried again to move, but another look made her give up on such decision. She didn't want to lose him and if he went on the battlefield, the probability for him to die would be increased, still with this last look he clearly showed her that the same thoughts were in his mind, he wouldn't let her die and would protect her just like she desired to do with him. A small smile made her way on her face and she had to resist to the urge of running toward him and hug him. To many this exchange would seem stupid but the truth was that to them it was equal to a love confession, maybe a bit less than this, but still it was like they had confessed to each other and Natsu had to use all of his self-control not to blush or show his embarrassment, he had to thank for this his numerous travels, they had teached him many things and one of these was how not to show his emotions. Still, internally the situation was a bit different, but took him only a moment to focus again on what was happening.

Like how the other dragon did with Ruri, Igneel placed the palm of his 'hand' in front of him with a sphere of what looked like fire in the middle of his palm. Without a second thought, he extended his hand toward it and immediately the sphere started to disappear in him. Still he didn't expect what came after it: as soon as he had completely absorbed the flames, he suddenly felt a sharp pain growing inside him. Falling on his knees he felt like he was burning, around him he could feel people scared of what was happening, while Ruri tried to call his name, probably worried of what was happening. He didn't know how much time he remained in that position, but he doesn't think for more than a couple of minutes or so, but in that time frame he understood what was happening: his thirst for revenge fought against the desire to protect Ruri, his reason tried to maintain control, but there was something, something inside him that was generating that mess. He couldn't understand what it was but decided to isolate it to regain control: with all his force of will and with what he thought as a good amount of luck he pushed that thing away, regaining control of himself, slowly he stood up again, his body slightly sweaty and his breath a bit quickened, but putting this aside he seemed ok, tired but ok, or so he looked like. Internally he was worried, he had almost lost control of himself, of his body, this because something inside him had tried to take control but failed. Still he knew that that something was still there, inside him, ready to attack again when he didn't expect it, yes he couldn't feel it anymore but he knew that he was still inside him.

"Seems like his power has been 'corrupted'. Are you sure that this was a wise decision Igneel?" The black dragon demanded.

"No, I'm not Amissa, but in a world like this we can't be sure of anything. But I'm sure of one thing, this boy won0t lose control against whoever 'corrupted' the flames I gave him." The red dragon replied, his voice showing he knew more than what many could thought of this world.

 **13th-September-X369**

"WACTH OUT!" Natsu yelled to Ruri as he prepared to unleash an attack. The blue haired teen, instead heard him and turned her head to look behind her and did just in time to see that a dragon was descending from the sky toward them, immediately she rolled on her right, giving the other teen the space that he needed to act.

" **FIRE DRAGON'S…ROAR!** " He yelled, before a torrent of dark fire came out from his mouth and hit their assailant, wounding him and causing it to fall on the ground, worsening further the wounds it just received. But Natsu wasn't finished yet, he knew that the dragon was still alive and it was already trying to stand up, knowing that on the battlefield giving up meant certain death and he wasn't going to let it happen, but unfortunately for him he picked up a fight with the wrong people.

"DIE! **FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIST!** " He shouted while jumping toward the dragon, before descending on its body and bringing an end to its life. Hate and anger clear in his eyes while he killed the dragon.

"YOU OK?" He yelled, making sure that Ruri heard him, after all they were in a battlefield and even if their senses were enchanted thanks to their magic, the noise that came from the fight around them could still be pretty noisy.

"I'm alright. How about you?" She replied, appearing on his side, sweat covering her front.

It had been five months since they became dragon slayer and from that point on, things had started to change: first of all, it looked like their magic had influenced them in more ways than one and the first one to be revealed was the attraction they felt for each other. In fact, just like dragons, they now would have to choose a mate for the life and since both of them loved already each other, this addition worked as catalyst, making them confess to each other and then marking each other. Moreover, since they received this magic, all their senses had improved greatly, which was a huge advantage in many situations but also a weak point in other, like when Natsu had to taste Ruri's cooking. A true massacre for his nose and for his mouth.

Still, during these past five months, the dragon civil war had reached them, this forcing them to take the field and this lead to their current condition. In which both of them were fighting against an overwhelming opponent that surpassed them in number, still both of them agreed on one thing: despite begin outnumbered, the battle seemed to be in stall. The reason was unknown but one thing was certain: that reason was actually killing everything on his path be it dragons or humans and they knew only one begin that was this merciless and if it was really him, then they were going to find it out soon, because the point where he was supposed to be was almost in the middle of the battlefield and they were almost there. Making their way to their destination and killing another pair of dragons, they finally arrived where they wanted and if the numerous corpse they met on their way there, what they saw made their blood cold: in front of them was a single person which height was on par with Natsu, but his entire figure was completely cloaked by a black miasma that spread on the ground, killing and consuming everything that it came in contact with. They remained there for a few moments, observing what they assumed as the work of something they would be able to describe as a monster or a demon, but the silhouette that was a few meters away from them said other, because it looked like a human.

Natsu was then about to charge at him: but Ruri stopped him, wanting to understand what were its intentions. He then looked at her and understood, even if part of him desired to charge at that figure and stop this massacre, but he knew that doing such thing would be stupid, especially if its target were to slay the enemy dragons. In fact, both of them had understood one thing: for how much they hated to admit it, it was thanks to his work that they haven't already lost the battle.

"P-Please…don't kill me…I-I have family…" A voice tried to say, but what came out from the mouth was more similar to a rattle in which words were barely distinguishable. Upon hearing it, both them turned their head in its direction and what they saw left them without words: the same figure that they had identified as Exitium was currently holding another person, a man in its mid thirty, from the throat, its hands more similar to claws were cloaked in the same black miasma as the rest of the body and soon it started to extend on the body of its victim, meaning certain death and from what Natsu had seen and heard a very painful and slow one. Still he didn't expect what came next: Exitium stared at the man with his eyes, which were two dark sclera, barely distinguishable from the rest of the body, for less than ten seconds, before he broke his neck with a swift movement, torching his backbone and killing him on the instant. Then he dropped the corpse on the ground and proceeded to walk away from there.

"WHERE ARE YOU PLANNING TO GO!? YOU BATSARD!" Natsu yelled as he used his flames to boost his speed and arriving in front of the one he was going to beat the crap out of.

" **FIRE DRAGON'S CRUSHIN FANG!** " He shouted as lit his hands ablaze, before swiping them at his target, burning him alive. Still, he wasn't so stupid to think that this attack would be enough to end it, after all, even if its identity was unknown, its strength was well known and feared. Suddenly from Natsu's flame started to leak out the same black substance that Exitium was using and suddenly it started to devour his fire, proving to be an excellent weapon and protection at the same time. However, Natsu wasn't fool enough to hope of killing it with one single attack, he knew it would've took much more to defeat it, but a smirk appeared on his face and he was sure that his opponent was surprised by it. Then with one swift movement, Natsu jumped back of five meters ensuring his safety, the smirk on his face never disappeared. Instead Exitium remained there for a moment, before deciding to go after the new enemy, but before it could do anything, it was hit by another attack.

" **CHAOS DRAGON'S ROAR!** " Ruri shouted form her position above the black figure. She had taken advantage of Natsu's attack to jump over his target and then once he was far enough not to hurt him, she unleashed her breath attack, deciding to focus more power in a restricted area, after all if she would even want to hope to damage the author of the massacre near there. She would have to be much more focused than normal. Finishing her attack, she landed three meters away from her opponent on the opposite side of where Natsu was, Soon the smoke caused by her attack dissipated, revealing their opponent form: he still was unscathed by the last attack, still one thing had changed, he wasn't cloaked in the black miasma of before, allowing them to see its true form. He was a boy, around the same age as them, his hair short and messy were dark in colour, his eyes of a cold dark purple, just like the sclera of when the black miasma hid him, just this time, they were human eyes, but they still possessed something that frightened them. His features were slightly sharp, he was wearing a long black shirt that almost reached his knees and with long sleeves, over it was a black jacket with purple strips, black long trousers and boots of the same colour.

They continued to look at him, hoping to see any kind of damage, even a small one, but he seemed perfectly fine and what's worse, his black miasma was starting to swirl around him and probably protect him again.

"Oh no, you won't." Natsu called out, shooting a glance at Ruri, who nodded in return, then he shot himself at their opponent and prepared his next attack.

" **FIRE DRAGON'S SWORD HORN!** " He yelled, engulfing his entire body with fire and charging at his target, who in response jumped over him and seemed to prepare a counter attack but was stopped when Ruri attacked him.

" **CHAOS DRAGON'S DARK SPHERE!** " She called out, charging chaos energy in her hand before shooting it toward the dark haired teen and successfully hitting him, sending him to crash on the ground. Struggling to stand up, Exitium stood again on his feet, but he couldn't even prepare a defense that Natsu was in front of him, ready to strike him again, a smirk on his face.

" **FIRE DRAGON'S CLAW!** " As soon as these words left his mouth his feet were ignites in flames and then he kicked the dark haired teen with them right in the middle of his torso and sending him back of a few meters, proving further that even if Nastu used his full power, he was still a strong opponent, stronger than any other he faced before. Still he was far from done and decided to continue his assault.

" **FIRE DRAGON'S IRON FIST!** " Deciding not to give any breath to his opponent he proceeded further his assault but then something unexpected happened. His flaming fist was about to connect with the face of his opponent, when he grabbed his fist with one hand. Understanding that he couldn't use his fist as a weapon anymore, he increased the power of his fire, hoping to deal some damage, but suddenly the same dark substance that protected Exitium before came out from his hand and devoured his fire, before extending on his arm. Immediately he felt like that dark matter was devouring his very soul, while tearing apart his body, trying to free himself from him, he tried to engulf his fist in fire and burn the source of his pain but no flames were generated and instead the miasma seemed to became more eager to devour him, increasing his pain.

"Seems like I will have to go." A voice suddenly brought the pink haired teen out from his pain and much to his surprise that voice sounded extremely familiar but he couldn't remember exactly where he already heard it before.

"And you will be useful." The same voice continued and this time Natsu identified its owner, because he was the person that was holding his hand. But before he could further reply, he let his grip go and suddenly he felt pain all over his body, his vision started to blur, his thoughts became numb and slowly his consciousness started to fade, no matter how much he struggled, he was slowly losing and fading, but he continued to struggle not wanting to lose this battle, but all his struggles were useless and in the end he lost consciousness.

"Seems like I'm done here." Exitium said more to himself than to anyone else, since the only other living begin near him was Natsu, but he was still like he was dead, but he wasn't.

'Pink hair…it brings me back memories.' He thought with a small genuine smile, something he haven't had in a long time. Looking around one last time, his smile soon disappeared, replaced by a cold expression that didn't show any emotions, then he disappeared from sight.

"NATSU!" Ruri called out while approaching said person, she had been worried for him since she saw the miasma covering his arm, but she couldn't help him in any manner, it was as if something had blocked her and prevented her to help him. But now, she had finally regained control of herself and as soon as she could she had run toward her mate, worried for him. Still something was off, she could feel it and she didn't like it.

"Natsu…are you ok?" She asked concerned about his health, after all, every men or creature that had come in contact with Exitium's miasma had always died, not immediately but even in the short term, they always showed sign of begin 'corrupted' by that substance in both mentally and physically, but he wasn't showing such sign and this made her hope that he was fine. Still the fact that he wasn't answering her was scaring her to no end, the las thing she wanted was to lose the one she loved, she wouldn't be able to bear it.

"Natsu are you…" She wasn't able to finish the sentence that suddenly Natsu grabbed her hand and with a sudden movement, he threw her body against a near rock. The strength he used was enough to shatter the rock and knock out Ruri herself and causing a wound on the back of her head. Then he turned his head toward the centre of the battlefield, where the fight was more intense, his eyes suddenly became cold and predatory, like those of someone that aimed at nothing more than killing everything he could. Not looking back, he started to walk there: flames and particles of the same black miasma that was about to devour him just a moment ago, dancing around him like waiting for the right occasion to kill something.

 **17th-September-X369**

Four days. It had been four days since Natsu started his rampage: at first it seemed like he directed his fury only against the faction of dragons against humans, killing them brutally and making sure that they were dead, showing the precision of a true veteran of massacre. Still, as soon as the enemy forces started to decrease in number, he also started to slaughter even those on his side, dragons, dragon slayer and even some thief that tried to took something of value from corpses. No matter how much his opponent begged for his life or was wounded, he showed no mercy against all of them. But the real shocking thing was the fact that while he used his fire dragon slayer magic, around his body circled the same black miasma that characterized Exitium, clear sign that he had done something to him, what wasn't clear, but it was sure that he was involved in all this.

The battle ended two days ago with the death of every member of the two sides and with only two survivors: Igneel and Natsu, who, once he finished his massacre, started to move toward Crocus and from the aura that surrounded him, it was clear that he didn't have good intentions. As for the second, he was currently resting in Crocus, trying to fully heal himself from the wounds he received and one in particular left a scar on the centre of his body. However, he wasn't alone, with him was Amissa, who had flown there to help them with the battle that ended in a bloodbath and was currently trying to figure out a plan to stop Natsu's rampage.

At first many thought about simply killing him, but from what the chaos dragon king said it was almost impossible: if he had been infected by Exitium's magic, this meant that his body had been made practically immortal and the only one that would be able to kill him would be Exitium himself, this made Ruri breath in relief. Even if Natsu had done all those things, she knew that he had been controlled and she would have done anything to save him. This resulting in both the dragon kings to apply an emergency solution, they would have had to use a spell that would seal the corrupted fire dragon slayer in a place where the magic that took control of him would have been weakened, until it would disappear completely and leave Natsu in control of his body. However, in order to cast such magic, it was required someone with a strong bond with the one that would have been sealed, this 'forcing' Ruri to be the one to cast it. So, after a day of preparation for the magic, they gave it to said blue haired girl and before anyone could say anything more, she immediately took a horse and headed toward where Natsu was supposed to be, tears streaming down from her eyes, both of joy and of sadness: the first because she would finally be able to save him, however, the latter were because she knew they would have been separated for some time, but she hoped that once he would be free, they would finally be able to stay together. How naive she was.

'Natsu…what happened to you…' She thought as she looked at said person, trying to reconnect her past memories with him, with the one who stood there and if she knew that he actually wasn't himself, she was having a hard time in contain her fear when looking at him. His body was no longer human anymore: his eyes were now yellow with slit pupils and showed that he wasn't himself and that it was begin devoured by a predatory instinct and…hate. His arms, up till the shoulder were covered in dark gray scales, his fingers were now sharp claws, from his back came out two pair of wings formed by one single leather section and with scales of the same colour as those on the arms. His feet were still human but the upper part of the legs was covered in scales, his torso instead showed that it still was human and finally his face had some scales around the eyes, his teeth were sharper and from the back of his head came out two gray curved horns that pointed up.

At first Ruri didn't understand what happened to him, but soon she understood what happened: it was because of the Exitium's miasma, which must have accelerated his dragonification, causing his body to start to change in that of a dragon and if he was already strong as a dragon slayer she understood that if he would become a dragon, he would be a much more powerful opponent.

With tears starting to form in her eyes, she lowered her gaze, so that her hair would shadow her eyes, gritting her teeth and clenching her fists: her anger reached her limit, she couldn't forgive, she wouldn't forgive, she didn't want to forgive Exitium. It was his fault, all this was his fault, if it wouldn't have been for him, both her and Natsu would have been able to be together, if it wouldn't have been for him, they wouldn't have to fight against each other, placing their lives on the line. Still, she remained focused on what she would do now: first she would save Natsu, then she would make Exitium pay for what he did.

"Natus…I promise that I will save you." She muttered, causing his finger to click in a strange manner, as if a sudden pain had just run through his body. Then as soon as she finished her sentence, she launched herself toward him and before he could do anything chaos energy started to form around her fist, signalling her incoming attack.

" **CHAOS DRAGON'S DEMOLISHING FIST!** " She yelled with all herself, deciding to put all what she had in this fight, she would win and bring back him, no matter the cost. Immediately, Natsu tried to block her attack, but she was too fast and her fist hit him directly his belly, sending him on the ground and distancing him of four meters. Which weren't that much for that kind of attack, but she had to remember that he still was one of the most powerful dragon slayer she had never met and now that he had become more powerful, due to the dragonification, he wasn't an opponent to be underestimated. Not waiting for the dust generated by his impact, she charged chaos energy into his mouth and released another attack

" **CHAOS DRAGON'S ROAR!** " She wasn't going to let Natsu attack, she knew very well how ferocious he could be and from what the reports of the past days said, he was much more aggressive than before. This leaving her with only the option of not letting him to take the offensive. This, if she didn't want to use that and considering the consequences, she rather would prefer to avoid it. Still, her hopes were crushed when she saw a figure exiting from the dust of the previous attack at inhuman speed, avoiding successfully her roar and causing her to drop the attack and jump to her right, barely dodging an incoming fist surrounded by dark flames, which created a wide crater once it connected with the ground, showing how much stronger he was. Still amazed by such force, she found herself face to face with her draconic opponent and before she could dodge, he threw another flaming punch at her, sending her to crash on the ground. Knowing that now that he had begun his assault, she forced herself to stand up and did just in time to see him charging at her with flames coming out from his hands and forming some sort of wing of fire. Not even having time to think, she let her chaos energy surround her and create a small sphere that was barely enough to protect all herself. Still once his attack ended, she dispelled her shield and after a pair of cough, she noticed some small bruises on her body, it looked like she hadn't been able to fully protect herself. Moreover, when she looked around, she remained shocked by what she saw: the ground was burned to ashes and still ablaze in some spots. Turning her head, she saw Natsu standing behind her, his hands still surrounded by the same dark flames of before and if her had received some damage, he was practically unscathed, depressing her even more and making her understand how weak her attacks had been.

'Is that so…do I really need to use it?' She thought desperately: both her and Natsu had always been on par when they fought against each other, but Natsu was advantaged due to his major experience in battle. But now the situation was different: he was more powerful than before, due to two factor, the first one begins his dragonification, the second instead the boost given from the miasma of Exitium. Still, she expected as such and it was because of this that she knows she needed a trump card, and she had it, still the cost would be high. But, in the end she didn't care, the only thing she desired right now was to save him and she would do anything to accomplish it.

" **CHAOS DRAGON'S SECRET ART: CHAOS ASCENSION!** " Upon saying it, chaos energy started to surround her form and after a few moments, she let out a loud scream of pain, making Natsu take a step back, before a flash of concern appeared in his eyes, but it was soon replaced by the same predatory gaze of before. Still, Ruri was able to see it and this made her hopes return, now she was certain that she would bring him back. With new force, she charged at him, Natsu was then about to dodge her attack, but his feet wouldn't listen to him. In a fraction of a second, she was in front of him, her fist coated with her magic and ready to strike.

" **CHAOS DRAGON'S DESTRUCTIVE FIST!"** The fist immediately connected with his face, this time begin much more powerful than the previous one and as the name said, with a greater destructive power. As soon as he received the hit, her opponent was sent flying away of ten meters, before he used his claws to slow his movements, his eyes then looked for their target and spot her in front of her: another scream of pain pierced his hear and upon a more accurate analyse, he noticed small rivers of blood coming out from her fist. Again the look in his eyes changed, but again it lasted for less than a second. Trying to attack her he shot his flames from under his feet and used them to approach her as fast as possible, then he ignited both his hands, preparing for another of his attack, only this time the intensity and the power behind his flames was much weaker than before. Noticing such change, Ruri decided to block his attack and she successfully did it, this without taking much damage. Also, this allowed her to notice that her last attack had actually landed some true damages. With her hope growing constantly, she prepared a roar attack and before he could distance himself from her, she unleashed her attack.

" **CHAOS DRAGON'S MIGHTY ROAR!** " The attack hit him as soon as she unleashed it, sending him flying and causing damage all over his body. Still, the after effect didn't wait and she coughed some blood. But she didn't care, she was nearing to the moment he would finally be free, maybe she wouldn't even need to use the spell created by the two dragon king. But she wasn't so naive to believe it, time would answer it. Focusing again on the battle, she was surprised to see that he was standing in the same spot of before, not moving of an inch. Immediately her face lit with hopes, but knew that he was trying to stop his same body and give her a chance to win the fight and she wouldn't disappoint him. Launching herself at him again, she prepared one of her strongest attack, she would end this fight now.

" **CHAOS DRAGON'S SLAYER SECRET ART:…** " But she wasn't able to end neither her chant, neither her attack, that she found herself, begin restrained by one of his hands, black miasma pouring out from it. Shock and fear surged in her. Shooting one glance at his face, she found nothing like before in it: neither the predatory gaze, neither the concern that the true Nasti showed for her, only a will to get rid of her.

 **Natsu's mind**

He didn't know how much time he lasted. The first thing he remembered after blacking out because of Exitium was the pained expression on Ruri's face, something that broke him, upon 'waking' from his slumber, a sudden wave of memories returned to his mind: what happened after he was defeated by Exitium, what he did with his body and finally the fight between his body and Ruri. Tears came to his eyes. Again, again he wasn't strong enough to protect her, again he was the one begin saved, again he couldn't do nothing to help. As soon as these thoughts came to his mind, he started to black out again, understanding what was happening, he shook his head, to clear from these thought. It wasn't true that he couldn't do anything: if Ruri had decided to face him in a fight, she must have some kind of solution to his actual situation, but maybe she was begin put in difficulty by how his body was acting. So it hit him: the thing he could do, was to fight to regain control over what the one who slaughtered countless living begin had stolen from him and he would be damned if he wouldn't. Trying to focus his mind, even if what he actually was nothing more than a projection of himself in his mind, and understand everything around him. Waiting for what seemed like an eternity, he finally felt it, his body, he saw again a flash of Ruri begin hurt. With his blood boiling because of his rage he tried to feel his body and force it to do what he wanted, finally feeling it, he found himself unable to do much, but he blocked some of his own magic from begin used.

Feeling the hit from Ruri's attack, he reminded himself of talking about such hit with her. The again he focused on his body, only this time, he was able to feel it much clearer, still he found himself unable to completely control it, but still able to restrict its movement and block it. Then he saw the incoming attack from the blue haired girl that he loved approaching and hoped that this time it would be enough to give him control over his body again or, at least, to create the opening she needed to save him. But just as she was few inches from landing the hit, he suddenly felt chains surrounding him and then restrict his movements and even his thoughts. He then lost the sight of the outside world and had to use all his will not to black out again.

"I WON'T LET YOU CONTROL ME ANYMORE!" He yelled in frustration while struggling not to lose the battle between his will and Exitium's one. Even if he couldn't see, hear or even touch him, he knew that he was there, at least his consciousness, he could feel him and knew that was now trying to force him to sleep again and have total control over his body. But he wouldn't let him win this fight, no he would win and have hi body back. Still despite all his effort, he could feel him slowly winning, his consciousness losing the battle with the same power that took control of it once before. However, even knowing this, he didn't give up, he would defeat him and go back to his life to Ruri. With these thoughts, he struggled again with new force but as soon as he did it, he felt like something had pierced him and he stopped for a second, then he saw all his memories flashing in front of him: the times when he was at the orphanage, when it was destroyed, when he started to live at the castle, when he trained and when he went on his mission, then the most recent ones appeared, showing again some of the missions that he accomplished, the dragon civil war and also his and her confession to each other. This brought him on the verge of tears, but he knew that this was exactly what he wanted, he wanted to compromise his mind and took advantage of it. Still what he saw next left him shocked, he saw a small black silhouette that camouflaged with the rest of the space, still around it, he saw a small aura of light colour. He couldn't come closer, he was still restrained by Exitium, but he could swear that he saw that silhouette wiping some tears and whispering something like 'I'm sorry', before disappearing and when it did, he felt his head starting to spin around, before everything went black again.

 **Real world**

To say Ruri was exhausted was an understatement, she was devastated, every single part of his body was aching like mad and she could feel the pain caused by both her chaos secret art and every other attack that followed that technique. But she expected as such: by using chaos ascension, she would gain a powerful boost in all her technique, each one becoming a deadly attack. However, the price for its use was high: the more time passed from its activation the faster the dragonification would become, moreover, each time she landed a hit, the force of her attack would work as a double edge sword, harming her opponent but also herself. Still, to her it appeared to be a good trade, not a fair one but she could careless, she would do anything to save Natsu and in fact she did.

In front of her, at a distance of one or two meters, laid Natsu's body. Apparently he seemed to be unconscious, but she couldn't be too sure about it, during their fight, she noticed that sometimes his body seemed to be kind of forced to stop, others instead it used its full force to attack her. Still she made, but she knew that this wasn't only her victory, it was also Natsu's one. Because she was sure of one thing, without Natsu's help from inside, also she noticed one thing: while from the stories that dragons told about the fact that he seemed to be a monster that desired nothing more than kill, but in the last part of the fight she saw him acting differently, resulting in him begin more focused on the fight and acting not like a predator that desired to kill her, but more like someone who knew how to fight and wanted to get rid of her as fast as possible, this while not leaving any opening for her. Or so it would be if it wasn't for the fact, the same fact that let her win, because, even if she knew she could fight and win against the 'predatory mode' in which Natsu's body acted for the past days, even without his help, but still using her secret art, she was sure that she would be killed immediately if it wouldn't have been for him to help her.

However, the fight was finally over, or so she hoped, so approaching his body she prepared the spell that the two dragon kings prepared. But once she was near him, she saw him slowly opening his eyes and at that moment she couldn't contain her tears anymore, with a quick movement, she rushed toward him and hugged him tightly: those eyes weren't those of a killer, nor of someone that desired to kill, no they were the eyes of the one she loved, they were Natsu's eyes.

"Ouch…you're suffocating me…" He managed to say while feeling her reduce the force she put in the hug and allowing him to return it, still he had to be careful not to wound her with his new claws, he knew that there was a manner to reverse him to a human form, yes the dragonification process would still remain and advance, but he would still be able to enjoy his human life.

"Sorry…it's just…I'm happy to see you again…" She managed to say between sobs, she had feared that she would never see him again but now that fear was gone and replaced by happiness for his return. Natsu was then about to say something, but suddenly another pain surged inside him, this one begin much more powerful than any other and again he felt it: the sensation of someone taking over his body, only this time it wasn't Exitium's work, he could feel that this one had a different kind of energy, much more malevolent and evil and the worst thing was that he couldn't stop it. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't stop it from advancing and what' worse, he could feel its intentions and they were even worse than those of the previous thief of his body. Not begin able to do anything he started to panic, he wanted to say to Ruri to end him there and now, before he loses control again but his mouth didn't respond to him, he was about to lose his body again when something unexpected happened, he felt him, he felt Exitium' energy surging inside him and then block the entity that was about to take his body. Surprised turned into shock when he heard a voice from inside talk to him and he recognized it.

"Quick, soon he will take control!" Exitium said from inside his mind. Normally Natsu would have did the opposite of what he just said, but since he was blocking that thing, he guessed that it was something that he would rather prefer to avoid to be free. Thinking quickly, he broke Ruri's hug and with a determined look on his face, he looked Ruri directly in the eyes.

"Ruri listen, you have to kill me, something inside me is trying to take control and I can't stop it." He called out, trying to muster the words and knowing how much they would make her suffer, but that was the best choice he had.

"No Natsu. If it's him again you can fight him, I know. We already defeated him once and we can do it again…" She replied, hoping to find another solution she didn't want to lose him. Still she didn't have a chance to finish to speak that Natsu felt that the thing that Exitium was blocking was starting to overcame him.

"No Ruri, it's not him. It something different more evil than anything I met before, you have to do this, there are no other options left!" He pleaded her with teary eyes, knowing how painful this would be. Ruri's expression became desperate she didn't want to kill him, she couldn't then it hit her the solution. A small but gentle smile crept over her face, a magic circle appeared in her hands and then she placed the magic circle on Natu's torso. Tears started to pour out from her eyes, the words that the two dragon kings said her when she took the spell: 'Once the spell will be casted, it will teleport the target in a sort of void space, there he will be purified by any kind of infection or corruption, in this case Exitium's magic. Once the corruption will be gone, he will then return to the normal world. But be aware the stronger the corruption will be the longer it will take him to came out from the place where he will be sent.'

If what Natsu was saying was true, that this thing that was trying to steal his body, this meant that it was stronger than Exitium's magic and that it will take longer than the latter one to be dispelled. With tears of pure sadness, she active the magic circle and saw him begin absorbed inside a black vortex.

"Goodby…Natsu…" She said, while he tried to say something but he couldn't and soon his figure disappeared into the vortex. Lowering her head, her sobs increased, the tears flowed more profusely and her eyes started to became red. Again she had lost him again and this time maybe forever, was this her destiny to lose the one she loved the most to lose him, Natsu. She didn't know but she knew one thing their world had just ended.

 **Hope you guys enjoyed this and I'm actually surprised that I managed to post this chapter after less than one month after my last post on one of my other stories. Also, I know that the last part was kind of forced, but please try to understand me, I'm not that good of a writer, I did it only as hobby and I'm still a high school's student so please be patient. See you guys next time I post a new chapter.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Phew…seems like this chapter took me longer than what I imaged, so sorry for the delay, but I had some problem of personal nature, and scholastic too, will I be able to be free from both, the answer no…I hate my life, still I also started to play on monster hunter world on PS4 and saying that I'm enjoying it would be an understatement, from my point of view it's a fantastic game and I also just finished to read Akame ga Kill and I have to one single thing: the anime sucks in comparison with the manga and probably I will start a new fanfiction on it. So, I said everything and see you at the end.**

 **-Same place, New world-**

Nothingness, that's all Natsu could remember and see, but was he even seeing? Maybe he simply was keeping his eyes closed, but still, shouldn't he feel the world around him, or was he dead and this was his fate? No he was sure he was still alive, he could still feel his arms and legs, move them or at least try, he could hear his heartbeat, but then what happened? That was something for which he didn0t have the answer, the last thing he remembered was Ruri, her tears that streamed down her face, showing that she didn't want this to happen, but he knew she had to otherwise HE would have taken the control of his body and that would have been much worse. Still, this left him without the answer he was looking for. At least he now knew who was trying, for the second time, to take over his body and both him and the memories he recovered weren't exactly the best thing that he could get in exchange for seeing that expression on Ruri's face. Apparently it seemed like he wasn't completely human, not that he already was, since his dragonification progressed to the point that he was half way to its completion, but he also had a demon inside him and that demon was none other than E.N.D., who, according to the what he had heard around, was the most powerful and vilest of Zeref's demons. This leading to his recovered memories, because it looked like he wasn't simply the strongest of Zeref's demon, but also his younger brother, who apparently died decades before he woke up in the orphanage.

How he could gain all this information was a mystery to him; probably when E.N.D. tried to break free destroyed some kind of seal that had been put to prevent him from remembering his past. This making him wonder one thing: how is possible that he couldn't have freaked out when he discovered this, yes at first he didn't believe it, but the more he thought about it, the more he understood that those memories and that demon, weren't false, they were true and in his actual condition he couldn't do much except for pondering about them and about one other thing: Exitium. He was one of the most merciless begin he had never met, that was a matter of fact and the massacre he saw the day he took over his body was the proof of it, he also was one of the strongest begin of his time, even stronger than dragons, still he decided to help him to stop E.N.D. from taking his body, be it for a second purpose or for some other reason he didn't know. Still, the fact that he had been saved by him was something that bothered him, after all it was his fault that everything that lead to his current situation happened. However, there was one other thing that disturbed him to no end and it was the fact that his voice was awfully familiar but he couldn't figure out who it belonged to. Letting out another sigh, he let all these thoughts slip away, his eyes stared at the nothing around him or at least that was what he thought: how much time had passed since he was trapped there, to him it seemed like he had been there forever, but the more he thought about everything after he last saw Ruri, the more it seemed like he had been there only for not as much time as he thought, still he didn't have anything to understand the passage of time. Again, frustration started to grow inside of him and again it faded as quickly as it arrived, there was no point in begin angry when you can't even let out your frustration on something. Ha, how he missed when he could simply punch a tree or a rock and incinerate them. Still, his mind soon started to focus on something other, something that he would had gladly avoided but couldn't: Ruri. He loved her with all himself, but he caused her to suffer, again, again because of his own weakness he forced her to experience the same feeling of losing someone precious to her. This wasn't the first time he thought about this, but he couldn't help himself from crying in silence and again this time, tears streamed down from his face.

" **Seems like I found you…"** A voice suddenly spoke, catching him off guard and making him stop to cry and to look around, trying to see the one who said that, but as soon as his tears stopped, he felt like everything around him rotated and before he could realize it, he passed out.

 **7th-July-X783**

"Ngggh…" A certain pink, or salmon if you prefer, haired dragon slayer complained as he slowly opened one of his eyes, only to be blinded by a sudden ray of warm light, something he haven't seen in a long time and that caused his body to feel alive again as if he had just been born. Then he lifts him up, positioning himself in a sitting position.

'Where am I?' He questioned inside his head, before both his eyes shot open at one simple realization: he wasn't inside the same black void of before, he had returned in the real world. The same world where he had grown up and where he had known Ruri, the same world where she was. Surprise soon turned into pure joy at this thought, finally, finally he had been freed from the prison on which he had been forced for how much time. Still, he soon regained control of his emotions, which wasn't something simply, but he managed to calm down and then, rising up, he looked around to inspect his surrounding and he noticed that there wasn't the slightest sign of destruction: he was at the corner of what he would describe as a flourishing forest, like no other he knew about. Which was a logical thing: since the dragon civil war had destroyed large amount of forest and landscapes, also their wood was necessary to rebuild the destroyed houses, not the brightest of the idea, but wood was one of the cheapest material and using stone would have been both troublesome and expensive. So the fact that a forest in such good conditions existed, could mean two things: first, he could have arrived in another continent, one in which dragons hadn't started the war, after all he wasn't in a complete different world, the smell that reached his nose where the same that he was used to, just a bit different but he guessed it was inevitable, after all he didn't know for how much time he had been away; second, the dragon war has ended and now he was in a period of peace, this allowing the nature to recover from the destruction it had received. Not begin able to decide which of his theories was correct, he looked around once again and noticing that not too far away from his position was a city. Not wasting any more time, he immediately started to walk toward it. Yes, he could have had use his fire to fly toward it or even use his wings, but right at the moment, he just wanted to enjoy the feeling of walking on the solid ground.

However, he noticed that his throat felt kind of dry, well after all he had been still for an unknown period of time, so he thought it was normal for him to feel thirsty. Spotting a nearby river, he didn't think twice to walk toward it and to drink some of its water, which he found very refreshing. Then an idea popped in his head, he could use this water to wash himself, after all, before he ended up in the black void where he had been until a few minutes ago, he had fought for four days in a row and at least a small bath was necessary to eliminate some filth. Still, when he looked at his reflection, he remained surprised to see that he looked completely human, his scales, his wings and even his claws were completely gone, even the blood that he was sure covered his body was gone. Still, he decided to analyse it better later, now he wanted to go in town and see if he could find something to eat, yes he could also hunt some beast and cook it, but right now he was starving and didn't want to waste energy to hunt. Also by doing so, he would be able to look for a library and inform about where and when he was. Washing quickly his face, he then got up again and headed toward the town, his stomach eager to be satisfied.

 **7th-July-X783-Hargeon town**

To say that he was surprised would be the best way to describe his condition: the city itself seemed both familiar but alien at the same time to him, the buildings were similar to those that he was accustomed to, but were somehow different. Also, the people were kind of different, in both their clothes and magic, this one feeling different. Even their language had some minor difference than the one he knew.

However, he tried to preserve such things for a second moment and just focused on his nose, trying to find something that could satisfy his hunger.

'At least the food's smell doesn't change.' He thought just as he caught the delicious smell of roasted meat, something he hadn't eat in a long while and caused him to droll a bit. Still just as he smelled it, he remembered another thing: he didn't have any money with him. This caused him to remain there still for a brief moment, his brain elaborating the new information, while his stomach protested for the missing food. Still, he wasn't a stupid and knew that he hadn't come there only to eat, he also came there to acquire more information about everything he could. Sighing for the missed chance to eat a good piece of meat, he resumed his walk, only this time he wasn't looking for food but for a library and it wasn't something that he could smell, but he would have had to trust hi sight and hope to be a little lucky, something he hadn't been lately. Releasing another sigh, he closed his eyes for a brief moment before reopening them, this would have taken quite some time.

 **Time skip: three hours**

'sigh…I'm starving…' Natsu thought after that his stomach asked for some food for the one hundredth time during the last few hours. Putting the book, he was keeping in his hands on the table in front of him, he let himself slump on the chair. After about 45 minutes that he gave up on eating at a restaurant, he finally found the other reason for which he came there, which was now the only one. The other 2 hours were spent in searching for some history books and in reading them and saying that he couldn't believe them was false. It's been ever since he woke up at the corner of the forest that smelled that that place was kind of off: the smell was too similar to that of places that he visited during some of his missions, but it still was kind of different, as if it had changed over the time and it was exactly like that. Because it turned out that he remained inside the black void that was his prison for 400 years and for how much strange it could seem, he found that this was the only possible explanation and that in this manner, every single piece of the puzzle that was his mind found the right place. Exiting from the local, he started to made his way out of the city, desiring to at least caught something to eat. Still, the more he walked, the more his mind reflected on what he had learned from the book he had just read, but only a few things were able to really caught his attention. One of which was the lack of information about the dragon's civil war, neither of the book he read talked about it, as if it had simply been erased from the history, but he knew that it wasn't true, it had happened, many lives had been lost and many sacrifice were required for the outcome that was now that era. Still, he didn't simply look for information about the general story of the past 400 years, he also searched for anything related to two persons that he was bonded with: Zeref and Ruri.

The first one begins his older brother and 'creator' in a certain sense, honestly he didn't remember much of his time with him, before he was brought back as a demon and he kind of hoped to discover more about him and his plans, but he didn't found anything useful and the few information that he discovered were useless for him or clearly made to increase the hate toward him. They may have a base of truth but, some parts were clearly invented and he knew that because it wasn't something new that human tended to change history and facts.

As for the second, well, it was pretty obvious that he loved her, but if he had been trapped inside his prison for four centuries, then shouldn't she be dead? Or at least that's what anyone would thought, but he wasn't anyone and his bond with her was the proof. Once you mark someone as a mate, a powerful bond will be created between the two begins, but once one of the two would die, then the bond would advise the other one who's alive and Natsu could still fell that she was alive, how he didn't really care, he just wanted to found her and apologize for everything he caused her, no matter what it would takes, he would amend for the sufferance he caused her. However, no matter how strong their bond was, they weren't able to locate each other and the pink haired teen was sure that something was blocking Ruri's bond, otherwise he would have been able to at least feel a spark of her magic, but he couldn't feel anything, void and this frustrated him to no end, but didn't make him surrender.

He also had read that dragons were dead and he knew why, after all even if he wasn't recorded in any book, he knew he was still alive and this only thought, caused his blood to boil. It was his fault that all this happened and he was sure that it was also because of him that there were no more dragons, which wasn't exactly a negative thing from his point of view, it was Exitium's fault that he and Ruri suffered so much and he was going to repay him in the right manner. Still, before he did that, he would ask him a pair of questions, because there were things that weren't clear about him and he would make sure to correct such thing. Still, from the information he gathered, he found out that there was one dragon that was still alive, its name was Acnologia, the black dragon of the apocalypse and chaos. It was this last word that caught his attention: chaos. Ruri was a dragon slayer of such element and from what he could remember, during her fight again his body, she used a spell that granted her a good boost to her power but also quickened her dragonification. However, from what he had read, this dragon wasn't a good one, instead it could be described as the complete opposite, but Natsu was sure that if it wasn't Ruri, then he at least knew something and if the good manners wouldn't be enough to make it speak, then he already had a plan B and it wouldn't be a pleasant one, for the dragon.

However, he was so caught in his thoughts that he didn't even notice that he was now out of Hargeon and was approaching the forest where he woke up several hours ago. He was then brought back to the world of the living once he heard a grunt, signs that some animals were near and animals was equal to meat. This simple equation caused his mind to put away all the previous thoughts and focus on finding the future meal and to eat it and his stomach couldn't agree more.

'Time to eat!' He thought with a grin and a small trill of droll escaping from the corner of his mouth.

 **24th-September-X783**

Two month. It had been two months since he was finally able to see the light of the sun and feel the peace of the night, but he missed more the first than the least, since he had been trapped for more than any normal human begin can live in a damned black space of literally nothing, and he found this new kind of life much more enjoyable than his previous one. Yes, he couldn't sleep anymore in his bed and had to do out in the open or in a tavern, but he really didn't mind and instead enjoyed every single moment of his life, desiring to taste his freedom to its fullest. After all, even before he was imprisoned, he always had to complete the missions the king requested and he didn't have very much of spare time, also there was the constant fear of the dragons and he wouldn't have been match for them, if it wasn't for his dragon-slayer magic. Well now he didn't have to obey to the king anymore, yes, he still had to do some missions that found in the cities and villages to get some money to live but they were much easier than those he was used to. There was only one negative thing of this change: the fact that she wasn't there. During these past two months, no matter how much he could seem to be relaxed, he never forgot about her. The quests that he completed were a double gain for him; while he used them to earn money, he also tended to ask about everything that could lead him to Acnologia, but there wasn't many information he could use. Apparently said black dragon had appeared for the last time years ago just to destroy a country and while this made him understand how powerful such begin could be, he was sure that Exitium would be a much bigger threat, after all his power were able to consume everything and everyone and he didn't doubt that if he wanted he would be able to cause much more damage than the dragon of apocalypse and if he still hunt dragons, he was sure that sooner or later, even the feared Acnologia would have to face an opponent that wouldn't be able to defeat and this was one of his source of worry. If Exitium took down the dragon would be a loss for him, because if he knew something about Ruri, then he wouldn't have any leads, but if the dragon was her, he didn't want to image it, no he would find her and protect from anything that could happen to her, no matter what.

'What is that?' He thought as he walked at one of the side of a small river, a bit bigger than a torrent. He was heading toward a city where he hoped to find some interesting request when his eyes caught sight of a very particular view, which brought him back some very unpleasant memories. No more than twenty meters away from him were what he would definite as the carbonized ruins of a village. Stopping in his track, he stared at it for a good minute, before deciding to check it.

Everything of that place was burned or either destroyed, still, the heat of the fire was completely gone and even the burned wood smelled like it had been burned five or six days ago. Looking around without knowing what he was looking for or even why he was there, he finally caught a new smell but this was even worse than that of burned wood, it was the smell of the death or to be precise of decaying corpse. All around the place were numerous dead body that were either burned until they weren't that different from ash or had died of bleeding, causing a pool of dark red blood to form under them. He also noticed that almost all the corpses had already been eaten by the scavengers and were now left abandoned to their fate. Still, the more he observed that place the more he was sure of one thing, that wasn't the work of some random fire related beast, no, it was the work of humans. Why they did this was unknown to him but the manner in which the corpses were disposed, the fact that they hadn't been completely eaten and even the absence the bodies of children was something that supported his idea, after all children's meat was supposed to be the most alluring one for a carnivorous beast. Why he knew this? Because once a dragon that he was fighting made the wrong move to anger him by saying how pleasant was to eat human's meat especially that of the children, which was much tender than that of the adult's one, useless to say that he made sure that he regretted both his words and the fact that he challenged him. Still this didn't answer to his question: why was this village attacked and what happened to the missing people? As if to answer to his questions, he heard a sound not far from his position. Immediately his guard went at his peak and he prepared to fight, if someone was going to mess with him, then he would make sure that they never crossed his path again and if by chance it was one the man that destroyed that village, ooohh, he would make them pay. He maybe not knows anything about that place and his people but if the persons that attacked that village were the kind of people he thought, then he would have killed them without a second thought, because he knew what means to lose your home, your friend, your family and he couldn't forgive someone that did this kind of thing.

Igniting his fist with his fire, he prepared himself for the fight. Another noise, this time closer than before, it sounded like the sound of someone that was rummaging through the rubbles and this make him understood that probably it was some kind of scavenger, however, this wasn't a good reason to lower his guard. Taking another pair of steps toward the source of the sound, he found himself surprised when he saw a small figure that looked like a child dressed with a tattered cloth with a small skirt that barely reached her knees, it was light in colour, but it was ripped in many parts and in some other seemed to be even burned. Deciding to test his luck, he released his magic and walked toward the figure, desiring what it was doing there.

"Hey you, what are you doing here?" He asked with collected voice, not desiring to seem rude or scare the child, Still, once the child heard him, he saw its body stiffened and slowly she turned her head to face him. It turned out that she was a little girl that Natsu would judje around six, she had light blue hair almost white that didn't even reach the base of her neck and brown eyes, he also noticed another pair of thing about her figure: she seemed exhausted and had some small cut on her legs and a pair on her arms too, part of her body was also covered with the ash of the ruins of that village and the final thing, which left him without words, was the fear and terror that he could see in her eyes and on her face, even each of her movements showed her emotional state. At this sight, the pink haired slayer was taken aback, but he immediately recollected himself, looking at her again he walked toward her and when he saw her closing her eyes before crouching herself in an attempt to protect her, he slowed his advance. He could see her entire body shake in fear, while tears of desperation streamed down her face, even her heart beat had quickened, still she didn't move of an inch, she couldn't the dragon slayer wasn't blind and he could see that she was both paralyzed by the fear and by the exhaustion. She now was probably expecting the worst, like he took her an either killed her and torture or even worse, tears came out with more force and small sobs escaped from her dried throat. However, she didn't expect to feel one warm and gentle hand patting her on the head while ruffling her hair kindly. Immediately her tears and sobs stopped and she also lowered her arms, just to find herself begin face to face with a kind and warm smile. Immediately her fear seemed to vanish and her terror followed. She was then about to answer but it was then that she saw everything around her spinning and before she knew she fell into unconsciousness. Quickly, Natsu caught her falling body, preventing it from hitting the ground, then he took a closer look at her: she didn't seem like have a fever or anything, she just was exhausted and tired and he wasn't the kind of person to just let a child there. Looking around again, he didn't see anyone there, so, with the child in his arms, he walked toward the forest, it was almost evening and he needed to prepare a camp for the night and to cook a dinner for two, maybe three, after all, he figured out that the girl hadn't eaten a good meal for days and she would be hungry, otherwise, he would gladly eat it, after all, he wouldn't let the food to be wasted.

 **Time skip: 4 hours**

'Hmm…seems like she is going to wake up soon.' Natsu thought, shooting one glance at the still sleeping figure of the little girl he found in the ruins of the village he visited some hours ago. However, he knew that soon she would wake up, he could tell it by looking at how much she was moving in her sleep, sign that she probably was having a nightmare, but who could blame her, probably she was still dreaming of the destruction of her home and of her family. How he knew it, this wasn't the first time he came to face an event of this kind and he also experienced something similar when that dragon burned his old home, so he knew the pain of losing your it. Finally, her eyes opened and slowly she stretched her arms. This caused Natsu to let out a small chuckle, happy that at least she had been able to rest when she slept. However, she seemed not to notice him and didn't even took note of her surrounding, instead she closed her eyes and rubbed on with the back of her hand.

"Seems like you were able to rest." He said, causing the child to suddenly look at his direction with fear in her eyes, probably fearing that she had been captured by the same men that destroyed her village or by some slaver.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you." He said, trying to reassure her with a smile and he saw her relaxing a bit, but he could still see that she hasn't lowered her guard, which was a good thing, because it meant only that she wasn't as naïve as people could think, even him when he had her age, tended to trust other people more than how she was showing now, but, even if both of them lost their home because of the fire, there was a difference between them: his was destroyed by a dragon, her by humans. She was then about to speak, when he heard a low growl coming from her stomach, sign that the smell of the meat he hunted during that afternoon was almost ready and that she was hungry. With a blush on her face, the light blue haired girl looked at her feet in embarrassment before a laugh caused her head to look at its source, only to find the pink haired teen laughing at the act that happened right now.

"I think that's it better if you eat something now. Then we will be able to talk." He called out, taking the two piece of meat he had skewered and put on the fire around thirty minutes ago. At first the small girl seemed reluctant but soon her stomach protested for the lack of food and another growl caused her to accept Natsu's offer, even if he wanted to make something to her, she doubted that she would be able to escape, she was tired. Even if she was able to rest by sleeping, she still hadn't eaten anything since yesterday and if she didn't eat something, she would most likely pass out from the hunger. As soon as she took the piece of food that he was offering her, she brought it to her mouth and upon smelling such food, she couldn't help and a bit of droll escaped from the corner of her mouth, before she opened it and started eating it as if her life depended on it, which could be said not to be so different from the truth. Upon seeing her acting so, Natsu felt another smile forming on his face, before he started to eat his own dinner which was more than welcomed since his stomach was practically endless. After about fifteen minutes of silence, broke only by their chewing, they finished their meal and then the little girl looked again at Natsu, doubt still present in her eyes.

"Thirst?" Natsu asked, offering her his water bottle, which was full to its brim. Eyeing him and then the item he was offering, she waited for some seconds before taking it and drinking just the water that she needed to be satisfied. Then she put it on the ground and looked at him again, silence returned over their camp, occasionally interrupted by the sounds of the animals.

"T-thank you…" The child said, causing him to look at her and before she could do or say anything else he smiled at her, easing some of the tension that was still present in the air.

"It was nothing." He simply replied, before the silence returned for the third time, only this time, it was broken by him, who let out a sigh before looking at her while trying not to scare her, after all she still didn't trust him and he couldn't blame her, after all what happened to her would cause such reaction in everyone.

"By the way, what's your name?" He asked with calm and warm voice desiring nothing but to help her and even his action didn't show the opposite until now, but she still was fearful. However, the way he acted, the way he spoke and even smiled were able to create a small crack in her doubt and this was the reason why she decided to answer him.

"Y-Yukino…my name is Yukino." She answered shyly, causing the slayer to widen slightly his smile, happy that she answered him. Still, he knew that the next question he would make wasn't a pleasant one, but he wanted to know it and maybe in this manner he would be able to help her in some way.  
"Then, it's a pleasure to meet you Yukino, my name is Natsu, Natsu Dragneel." He said with a smile, wanting to calm the child and not desiring to harm her in any way, still, there was a question that was ringing in his mind and to which he wanted an answer but he could already image the consequences but he decided to risk.

"Ehi, Yukino, what happened to your village?" Upon asked her, the atmosphere around them filled with sadness and he saw her hugging her legs, before clenching her fist in fear. Seeing this, he desired to come near her and comfort her, after all no child deserved to experience what she had to, but he knew that he would cause more problems than other, so he remained there.

"A group of person attacked the village, saying that they were servant of Zeref and that they were there to give us the honour to serve their master, but…'sniff'…they started to burn everything and kill everyone that tried to oppose to them, while the other were imprisoned and brought away…" She said between the sobs, tears were starting to well inside her eyes and she could see that the fear of this event was still plaguing her mind. He then clenched his fist up to the point it almost started to bleed, the people that attacked Youkino's home were some of the worst kind: they were zealots of Zeref, mages and people without the tiniest of mercy or humanity and that believed that what they did would bring them closer to the dark mage, until he would even show himself to them. However, he knew very well that his brother wasn't interested in such fools and that everything they did would only cause sufferance. To be honest he didn't even know why they did all this and what they would gain from it and to say the truth he didn't even was interested in understanding them, he just wanted them to disappear and not to reappear never again, he even fought a pair of dark guilds that declared to worship Zeref during the time he spent in this era. But no matter how much effort he put in defeating them, they seemed like a plague that didn't have a cure and this only enraged him even more. Still he contained his anger and calmed his mind, he didn't want to scare Yukino, she didn't deserve it, she didn't deserve all this.

"…I-I was able to escape only thanks to my sister…she-she scarified herself to give me enough time to run away…but-but she was caught…and it's all because of me…" She cried, each pause, tears escaped from her eyes and streamed down her face, while her sobs became more frequent after each word. She then stopped for a single moment and then her sobs increased, before she started to speak again.

"…because of…my sister…she…she was taken by those men…" She almost yelled in desperation. Natsu's fist clenched even more powerfully and a few steams of bleed came out. His anger had reached its peak and now had turned into rage, if he would have the chance, he would gladly hunt down these cultist and kill each one of them. However, his anger was dismissed quickly, because his mind soon focused on the crying child that was near him, deciding to act, he got up from his position before sitting near her, this caused her to stop crying and to tense a little, then she slowly looked at him and saw his gaze directed toward their camo fire, but it was clear that he was lost in his thoughts.

"You know, even I lost my home when I was a child." He started, surprising her and even him, he wasn't the kind of person that told to anyone about his past, especially when it involved such kind of thing, but he felt that this time he could let her know a part of what happened to him, obviously he wouldn't tell her that he had been imprisoned for four centuries and that his former home had been burnt by a dragon, moreover, he doubted that she would even believe him. Still he thought that it would have been good to share part of his story with her, maybe in this manner she would have been less scared by him than she was now.

"At that time I lived in an orphanage, I never had known my true parents or if I had some other relatives, but still, everyone there helped me in any possible way. Four people in particular were very precious to me: the first one begins the miss that took care of everyone, we called her Miss Rose, she was a fantastic person, with a good word for everyone and able to solve almost any kind of problem she had to face, she also was an exceptional cook, mmm, I can still remember the taste of her delicacies." He said while lightly massaging his belly, the taste of the food she prepared still clear as yesterday in his mind.

"The second one was one of the bravest person I ever met: his name was Cormeum and even if the first time I saw him, I was scared by how imposing he can seem, he really had a gold heart, he never thought twice to help the others and never run away when someone was in danger or needed help, still he was also extremely strict and I had to say that sometimes he was too impulsive." Natsu continued, while memories that he had buried deep down in his mind started to return and with them, the sadness he had buried resurfaced as well.

"Then there was my best friend: Haru, eheh, he was really quite the type, he always made bad jokes but no matter what they always made smile, he also never betrayed his friends and would always stand with them, no matter what. He also always knew what to do in every situation but sometimes he acted a bit a braggart but it was impossible not to laugh when he did it." Again, his memories reappeared in his mind and occupied all his thoughts, bringing him happiness, nostalgia and sadness but he was happy, happy of remembering them, happy that he still had the memories of every moment that he shared with them, it was like, they weren't dead, no they were still alive, in his memories and even if they weren't of that world anymore, he knew that they were still watching him and for this reason he couldn't give up, he had to continue to live, for them and for Ruri.

"But…who was the last person?" Yukino suddenly asked, causing Natsu to look at her and he couldn't help but smile at the face she was making: her eyes were fully focused on him showing her curiosity about knowing the rest of the story and who was him to deny it.

"The last person was Ruri, she was very special to me, she always helped me when I needed and she could understand what was wrong with me every time, she knew what she had to do. She was kind, but determined and put always the others before her and never backed down nor surrendered. She also was always cheerful but sometimes she could be a bit of impertinent but this aside she really was a marvellous person." He said and he had to force himself not to cry, every and each time he thought about her, he couldn't help himself but think about how much she had to suffer because if him and his weakness. Because he wasn't able to defeat Exitium, she had to suffer and then when he had finally taken control of his body, E.N.D. decided to act and this time she had to imprison him and he could barely image how much she suffered by doing so and the worst thing was that if it wouldn't had been for the same in who took over his body before, they wouldn't be able to survive. But now he was there free from both of them and he wouldn't let them interfere again, he could feel that Ruri was out there and he would find her no matter what.

"She looks like a splendid person." Yukino said with a small smile adorning her face and this could only make Natsu smile in return, it looked like she finally was starting not to be afraid of him anymore and this could only be a positive thing. He then stood up again and walked toward his rucksack, which was on the opposite side of the fire, and after a second of searching, he took out a blanket of wool, which would be able to keep everyone warm during a night of autumn like the one that was taking place. He then looked at it for a brief second and then he walked toward the blue haired child and offered it to her.

"It's getting cold; this will keep you warm." He said with a kind smile while offering her the blanket he took just a moment ago, as for why he had one, it was easy said, even if his magic kept him always warm and made him practically immune to the heat, he preferred to be prepared for everything and so he brought a blanket with him and while it normally would have been useless, it wasn't now.

Yukino the stared at the items that Natsu was offering her and then she accepted it and warped around her, immediately a shiver caused by the change of temperature that was produced by the blanket run down to her spine. Then, she closed her eyes for a single moment, enjoying the pleasure of the warmth that she was feeling, before seeing Natsu leaning his back against a tree.

"Don't you have cold?" She asked innocently with concern clear in her eyes, even if at first she doubted about the true intention of the pink haired teen, she now believed that he wasn't bad person and after that he gave her part of his food, the last thing she wanted was to bother him.

"No, my magic doesn't let me feel it." He replied with a small smile, he knew exactly what she was thinking right now, if he would have been in her position, he probably would have thought the same thing, so he knew how to answer to make sure that she didn't feel guilty of begin selfish.

"Magic?" She asked with a hint of both fear and curiosity in her voice, the first probably caused by the fact that probably some of the people that attacked her village used magic. As for the second, it was probably caused by the fact that she must be in fact curious, which was something typical for all the children of their age. Still, the fact that she didn't felt only fear, demonstrated that she wasn't afraid of him anymore.

"Yes, it's a fire based magic, so it allows my body to have a higher temperature than that of a normal person." He explained with calm voice while choosing carefully the words he used and showing his magic by generating a small flame in the middle of his right pal. Still he made particular attention to the used words, because if he used the wrong ones, he would end to scare her and that was something he absolutely didn't want to occur. However, what he found on her face, left him a little surprised: she was looking at him with her eyes half open, clear sign of her tiredness, but he could see in them the spark of curiosity and desire of knowledge that could rarely be seen. It would look like, instead of scaring her, he made her more interested about the same power that could both bring destruction but that could also be one of the most helpful thing that existed. Still he could clearly see that she was extremely tired and that soon she would fall asleep, so he acts of consequence.

"If you want, I will tell you more tomorrow, but for now, it's better to sleep. You're tired and I'm starting to feel the same. Goodnight." He said as he let his eyelids slid down, but letting a small chink to be able to see her and her surroundings.

"'Yawn'…goodnight…" She whispered before closing her eyes and soon her breath changed, indicating that she had in fact fell asleep. Letting out a small chuckle, he closed his eyes and let the sleep come and with it, the nightmares it brought. Still, he was now used to them, but this didn't mean that they were pleasant, no they were the exact opposite, but they also reminded him of something important: the fact that he made Ruri suffer and if this was the worst of the torture he could receive, it also reminded him of why he was still living, of why he was there and not distressing somewhere alone while waiting for his final moment, no he knew that if he would do that, because that would only show his own selfishness.

'I will find you…Ruri…' He thought before slipping completely in his sleep and in the world of nightmares that was only waiting for him to begin.

 **25th-September-X783**

'Seems like they are weakening.' Natsu thought as he slowly opened his eyes. He then took a quick look around him and slowly he got up: it was just dawn and the rays of light that reached him were already showing their light that was slowly turning from the cold one typical of the summer and spring to a glassier one, which characterized the other two seasons of the year. Yukino was still sleeping and it looked like her sleep was calmer than the last time when she passed out, but still, he could see the signs of the nightmares she was having and this brought him a feeling of guilt. Guilt that he couldn't help her, guilt that he could only watch her sleeping form without begin able to help her to deal with her demons. But, even if he couldn't help her in the world of her sleep, he could help her to overcome it in the waking world and he would be damned if he couldn't: he knew what it meant to lose everyone that you care for and your home, so he could understand well how she felt. There was just one great difference between their situation: while she was alone, he wasn't, he had Ruri that never stopped to support him and helped him in any possible way, even Cormeum helped him in ways he would never be able to thank him enough. Her, instead, had been left completely alone, no friend, nor family and from what she had told him, the only person with which she had a strong bond was her sister but she had been taken away by the same men that destroyed her home and this leaving her alone, but now she wasn't anymore, he was there and he would help her as much as he could, he knew how was to be left alone and he wouldn't let her feel it.

Taking one small glance at her sleeping form, he smiled at her before walking away from their camp, even if he wasn't alone, he still had to do some practice or he wouldn't be able to fight properly next time he would have had to face a strong opponent. So he washed quickly his face on the near that flowed near what remained of the village where he found Yukino. However, when he came had finished to wash himself, he couldn't help but look again at the destruction that Zeref's cultist had brought there and again anger started to grow inside him, but this time it was weaker than yesterday, be it the fact that it wasn't something new and he could control himself better or be it the fact that he was starting to have more self-control, he assumed it was a positive thing. So after taking a deep breath to completely calm himself down, he walked away from that place, not wanting to release more power than necessary and alert any possible begin that could sense his magic or wake the child that was sleeping not far from where he was. Finally, he reached a small clearing and as soon as he reached its centre he took a meditative position, before focusing himself on his surrounding, immediately he started to feel the magic all around him flowing perfectly in that place, in the water that flowed near there, in the wind that was nothing more than a simple breeze, in the firm earth under his feet. But he also adverted a small disorder in that perfect harmony, and that disorder was caused by a single source: him. He could feel E.N.D.'s own power inside him, trying to became stronger by using the negative energy that came from the village's ruins, but he always rejected it, he knew the risks that of feeding such power, because he knew that if it became too strong, then said demon wouldn't think twice to try to took over his body for the second time, only, this time, there would not be anyone to help him to contain his inner enemy, it would have been a pure battle of will between him and E.N.D. and he wasn't sure of its outcome. Still, he was able to dismiss these thoughts from his mind and he returned to focus on the magic, but then he noticed something unusual: near him, was an unusual source of magic power, one similar to that of a magician but much weaker and that released its energy in a chaotic manner which indicated that the magic signature belonged to someone inexperienced and probably young. He then focused a little more on such source and he wasn't surprised when he identified it.

"You know that peeking at others is rude, Yukino." The pink haired slayer said while standing up and opening his eyes, only to see a surprised and slightly afraid Yukino, only, this wasn't the same fear as she had yesterday when she first saw him, it was more like that of a child that felt both embarrassed and scared of the rebuke that was sure to come. However, what she expected never came, instead she started to hear a low giggle coming from the same person that found her just a moment ago, before it turned into a full laugh which confused her but made all her worries disappear instantly.

"Don't worry, I'm not angry." He said while slowly making his laugh fade, returning to his previous calm state, but the same smile that was present on his face didn't disappear and instead was slightly wider than before, this showing that he wasn't lying before. This allowed her curiosity to grow even more and prompted her to speak.

"What were you doing before?" She asked, eager to know why he was there and why she felt something stirring inside her when he had closed his eyes. It was a complete new sensation, she had never felt it before, yet it felt somehow familiar, as if it had been part of herself since the beginning and had now been awakened after a long sleep. However, she still couldn't understand what it was and she really hoped that Natsu could answer her question.

"I was meditating, it's a good manner to train yourself and have a better understatement of your surrounding and of your magic." He answered bluntly and answering to the question made by her but she had yet, another question to be answered and she couldn't wait for it, so she decided to voice it, impatience clear in her behaviour.

"When you were meditating I felt…strange…what was it?" She asked, her curiosity rising every passing second, but this time it was clear that she was feeling uneasy when talking about this topic, but it was obvious, after all when he tried to focus on her magic signature it was almost like he had looked into her own soul.

"Well…that feeling was me. Actually when you peeked at me, I focused my attention on you and your magic signature, that's why you felt that way, it your magic that was reacting to mine." He said with a sheepish smile, begin the person he was, he was feeling a little embarrassed at the moment.

"My magic…do I have magic?" She asked with both surprise and excitement filling her voice, but he could also hear a bit of fear, probably caused by the fact that her house had been destroyed by using the same power that was inside her and then her mind automatically made her think that she could become like those that caused her to lose everything and, from Natsu's point of view, it could be a possibility. She may now be innocent and kind but life could change people in manners in many ways and not always for the better, instead it was more probable the opposite, he was the living proof of it. When he was still a child he was much kinder and always looked at the future with hope, moreover, he also tended to trust people much more. However, after witnessing the events he had to go through until now, he had changed a lot, becoming more reserved and tending to look at the future for what it was, nor in a negative manner nor in a positive one, and not to trust people he didn't know well enough. Also, as time passed, his own manner of seeing things changed, before he would never be able to take the lives of other, but now, now he could and did. Yet, he never liked it, because even if he killed someone, be it one of the worst people he had ever met, that didn't mean he was better than the one he killed, instead he could say he was worst. Because he was still alive, he could still breath and steal that same breath that is so natural to every living begins to someone other. However, he quickly discarded his personal thoughts and focused again on the reality.

"You do; you simply haven't mustered it. Still with the right training, I'm sure it you will be able to control it and maybe then, you will even surpass me." He half lied, while the first part of his speech was entirely true, the last part wasn't. Even if he didn't doubt that there were many people that could beat him, he still doubted that anyone could surpass his power level. It wasn't because he felt full of himself, it was simply a matter of fact, even back before he was imprisoned, he was considered as one of the most powerful magician, when it came to destructive power, on par with Ruri and other slayers like them and second only to the power of the dragon kings and to Exitium. But he wasn't simply stronger, he was on a complete different level than anyone he knew, his power far exceeded that of the dragon kings and was considered as on par with that of the gods and he knew it thanks to the time in which said person had taken over his body. During that period, he had been unconscious for most of the time, but still, his senses remained sharp and this allowed him to sense part of the extent of his power and the only way he could describe it was as a limitless abyss of power that devoured everything it came in touch. Still, after seeing his power at work, he had imaged that his power source was darkness itself, after all, the way it acted resembled some dark element magic he had seen, but it surprisingly wasn't. it was similar but different at the same time and even after thinking about every possibility, he still couldn't understand his source of power.

"Then…please, train me." She suddenly asked, lowering her head, showing that she really wanted it. To say the truth, Natsu was taken aback by her request, sure he had already imaged that she would ask it and in fact what surprised him was the way she was doing it: both her eyes were shut closed but it was clear by looking at how much force she was putting in keeping them closed that she was more than determined in what she was doing, moreover both her fists were clenched almost to the point they were bleeding and he could already see the signs that her nails, for how short they were, would leave on her hands. Also, even if he couldn't still see them, he was sure that tears were starting to form in the corner of her eyes. How did he know it? Because he had already figured out what her thoughts was, this just by looking at her face and by the sound of her voice, two things were clear: first she wanted to be powerful enough so that she would never feel the same fear that she felt when those cultists took away everything dear to her; second, she didn't want to experience such lose never again and this only showed how naïve and kind she still was, but it wasn't bad, or at least that's what Natsu thought, after all, after that the dragon destroyed his old home, similar thoughts were in his head. Only, he already thirsted for revenge and in his heart had already started to grow the seed of the anger he felt toward dragons. Still, the fact that Yukino wasn't taking the path of revenge as he did, made a smile appear on his face and he would gladly do everything he could to avoid that she followed his footsteps.

"Guess I cannot say no in front of such determination." He said while letting a grin morph his smile, this showing the blue haired child his teeth and his fangs, but she didn't even give them any kind of attention as joy grew in her, she was going to learn magic and she couldn't be happier at the moment.

"Still, don't think even for a second it'll be easy, sometimes you will have to push your mind and body over their limits and surpass them so prepare yourself, because it will be a long journey." He continued with cold and even tone at the start of the sentence but softening it to its end, showing first the fact that he was deadly serious about this matter and showing his soft side.

"Yes, sir I am ready to start." She said with decision, she had already made up her mind, she would learn magic, no matter what and even if it would take years to learn how to use it, she wouldn't surrender and continue until this 'journey' would reach its end.

"Very well, then we should start immediately. First, come here and sit down." He called out, gesturing her to sit in the same place where she found him meditating a few minutes ago. So, she didn't comply and sit where he had instructed.

"What are we going to do?" She asked innocently, desiring to know why he wanted her to sit there.

"Before we can start to practice with magic, you need to understand the power inside you. Close your eyes and focus on yourself and try to identify the source of your magic." He said, while leaning against a nearby tree with his arms crossed. Immediately Yukino did as he instructed and tried to focus on what was inside her, but she couldn't feel anything. Trying to focus even harder, slowly her breath quickened and so did her heart-beat. A typical error of beginners, if they don't succeed in identifying their magic power they immediately start to get nervous in an attempt to focus more but ending up only to lose focus, even him did the same mistake long ago, so he already knew how to fix it.

"Relax, if you continue this way you will only end up losing focus." He suggested, earning a small yelp from the girl before she nodded with her head and tried to do as he said and much to her surprise and to his delight, she finally started to feel something inside her stirring and flowing freely, she then did the first thing that came to her mind and tried to 'grab' it. Expecting this as well, Natsu was about to speak again when she stopped: another common mistake of the beginners was that, as soon as they started to feel something, they would immediately try to grab it in hope of not losing it, but ending in losing focus again and then nullifying their work. However, the way Yukino 'grabbed' said source was different: instead of trying to avoid of losing it, it was more like she was petting it and surprisingly it was working, her focus wasn't decreasing and she was able to feel more clearly her magic. This surprised the slayer but he quickly put his surprise aside and tried to understand why this was happening, but keeping a vigilant eye on Yukino and what she was doing, after all magic was yes versatile and useful but sometimes tended to be also fickle and this could lead to many kind of situations, some of which weren't pleasant and he would gladly avoid such things to happen. Still, while he continued to search in his memory, he noticed that everything was remaining stable and this allowed him to focus more on remembering and finally he understood: magic was always influenced by people's personalities and depending on it, it would react differently, but there were a few magics that tended to react in the same way as how was happening now but there was only one that coincided with the one he was feeling and it was the magic of stellar spirit. After all, it was a fitting magic for a person such as Yukino which was kind and seemed strong enough not to surrender to the darkness that were anger and hate, something he failed to do, but each person was different and each one took a different path. He then remained there, observing carefully his young apprentice focusing herself on her own magic while playing with it and making sure not to break her concentration. This continued until he heard a low growl coming from the belly of said young lady, breaking the atmosphere that had formed around that place and making know her hunger. Immediately she covered her belly in an attempt to silence it while a small blush made its way on her cheeks, embarrassment taking over her mind. And Natsu didn't really help when he exploded into a full laugh, causing her to look at him and pouting.

"I think we should take a break and eat something still I think that for today is enough, just relax for now, the meal will be ready within minutes." He said, slowly making his laugh fade and heading toward where he had left his rucksack, also, maybe she hadn't notice but, the exercise she had done today could be trying for someone who had just started to practice magic. He then looked at her and saw her lying on the ground, tiredness making itself know but resulting only in the need to lay down and in a small acceleration of her breath. He then shot one glance at the sky and remained surprised that the sun had already passed its zenith and that the afternoon had begun to show itself with its more reddish colour. Never during the two month that he had spent there, the time had passed so quickly and smoothly, normally his routine would make him wake up early in the morning and after a little warm up, he would make breakfast, then he would have walked toward a new town in which he would have took some works to have the money he needed or to gain some information on one of the subject that monopolized his thoughts most: Ruri. Then he would make his lunch and then would do pretty the same in the time between the first meal of the day and the second. Then once it would be almost time for dinner, he would stop for a moment and do some more training, then he would cook his food and after eating he would spend some time in thinking before the sleep would reclaim his consciousness. This if he wasn't dealing with one of the work he did, because in that case there were no certainties of how his schedule would change. However, the change that occurred that day wasn't unwelcomed, instead he found it quite pleasant, with this thought, smile made his way to his lips and started to prepare the meal, his own stomach eager to be fed, only this time he decided it was the case to use plentiful of food and various ingredients after all he wasn't alone this time not anymore, not anymore, for now.

 **OK, I know, not the best chapter I wrote, but please try to understand, I needed a chapter of connection to explain what happened once Natsu was able to return from his 'prison' and putting him directly in the middle of the action would be, how can I say, too hasty. Moreover, I decided not to make him join Fairy Tail, because it would have been a problem for my story, as for Yukino, I know that the way she arrived to trust him wasn't really real, but she will be an important chapter in the future. Still I don't want to spoil the story so see you next time.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Ok, sorry for the very, very, very late update, but I had some problems about an exam that prevented me from writing anything and also I decided to start writing my first original stories that was born from a dream. I still haven't finished the first chapter but I truly like it and so, if I will be late again, you will know the reason. Well now I won't take away any more time from you so enjoy the reading.**

 **-New Life-**

 **30th-September-X783**

To say that Natsu was feeling satisfied wouldn't be able to fully describe how he was feeling, because he was also proud. The first of the two was because he had found something he had searched for the past days, as for the second: it was due to the progress that his little apprentice had accomplished with her magic. Within only five days Yukino managed to get a better control of her own magic and to improve herself up to the point that he thought she could summon a silver spirit for a short time, surely she wouldn't be able to keep it in this world for more than a few minutes, but he was sure she could do it and if she succeeded in this, then, everything would be quicker and maybe even easier from then on. This leading him to search for a key that she could use to give her when the time would be right and he thought that such time had come and lucky him, today, when he ventured into the nearest town to their actual position, he searched for a stellar key and found it. It was a silver one and this meant that it would summon a spirit that both required not too much energy but that also wasn't extremely powerful.

Also, he visited a town for two more reason: first, he needed to buy some more food for the both of them and second, he had a desperate need of money, so he had also looked for some quest that wouldn't be too hard to deal with, for example hunting some animals or finding some precise resources. This making clear that he did not wish to go on a mission to take down bandits or dark guild, because he actually had to take care of someone other and because of he feared that if she saw such things, then the image of her destroyed village would resurface and this could also cause her to take the first step on the same road that turned him in who he is now and he didn't want this.

Still, he quickly dismissed these negative thoughts and focused again on what would happen today and the face that Yukino would make once she would see her new and first key, he really was impatient to see it.

Within a few more minutes, he finally arrived and found that his apprentice was still practicing: he left her around a pair of hours ago and she had started to exercise with her magic half an hour before his leave. So this meant that she had practiced for two hours and half, a very good result, considering that she had started to practice less than a week ago. As for him, he didn't go through such kind of training: back then, four centuries ago, time wasn't something you could waste and life was harder than now, people lived in constant fear of dragons that would decide to eat them or simply let out their anger on everything in sight. This, leading many people to choose to become bandits, slave's traders and similar to gain everything they wanted. As for magic, in this era things were different: back then, before he was sealed away, there wasn't that much of ethernano in the air as now, this making even rarer than now the possibility of a truly powerful magician to be born and to be able to truly release the limit. This made him think about another thing: all the magician of his era were rarely truly powerful and the few ones that were, like him and Ruri, couldn't use their reserve of magic recklessly, otherwise, it would be difficult to recover efficiently their magic during a fight. But that wasn't what made him thought about this, but rather the memory of how Exitium fought: he never held back with his attack and never seemed to be tired or exhausted, no matter how long he fought or how powerful were his opponents, he never showed any sign of tiredness and looked ready to fight.

As for what regarded him and Ruri, they went through different paths when it came to practicing with magic: he being instructed to fight and trained restlessly since he was very young, probably so that he could be used by the king to accomplish what years later would become a routine to him. Still, that didn't mean that it wasn't hard, for years, he was forced to endure a training that always made him completely exhausted at the end of the day. To him, those moments were like a living inferno and if it wouldn't have been for Ruri and Cormeum, he was sure he would have gone insane. They always supported him and helped in many ways and thank to them, he was able to endure that inferno and go over. Moreover, there was also a third thing that made him go on with that training: revenge, he knew that the reason why they were training him was to turn in some sort of living weapon, they had detected a great amount of magical potential inside him and as time went on, he started to thirst for it…for more power, so that he could have his revenge against the same creature that destroyed his home, but as this happened, he also learnt that his power wasn't nearly enough to confront a dragon and cause it a serious injury. But this changed once he became a dragon slayer, at that moment, in that instant, he finally felt it, the power he had looked for to have his revenge, but again, there was a reason why he didn't purse completely his revenge and it was the same reason why he was now wandering around the world: Ruri.

He loved her with all himself and for how much he desired revenge, he knew that such thirst would never be really satisfied and would have lead him in an endless spiral of killing, until…there would be nothing left and finally, death would come. In the end, however, he took the other path and continued to bear the hate for dragons, but his mind remained lucid and allowed him to see over the mist that was his hate and that risked to make him almost blind and so here he was now: in a world in peace, but where ghosts of the past still live and where dragons doesn't exist anymore.

'For now, at last…' He thought with both guilt and resentment in his mind. He knew that technically there still was a dragon left alive out there: Acnologia, but he also knew one more thing, he…was becoming one as well. His magic, was created to slay dragons, but to do such thing, someone would need to have the same power as those monsters. But, while it granted humans such power, it also changed them, slowly turning them into what their magic was meant to slay, dragons. Still, for him things would be different, because he wasn't a complete human: he was also a demon and he didn't know how this would affect him, sure, he would still become a dragon, he could feel his dragon seed growing inside him, but he also knew that sooner or later something would happen.

With this in mind, he made his last steps that brought him where he and Yukino had set their camp. As for why they decided not to stay in the city, it was because he didn't like it, in the city from what he had heard was a guild and judging from his hearing and sense of smell, that place wasn't really a good one. Still, from what he had heard it was a considered as a legal guild that went under the name of Phantom Lord. A name that he'd better remember for two reasons: first, he had all the intentions of stay away from them and if some of them will try to mess with him or his little apprentice, then their souls better be ready to face his wrath; second, there was a dragon slayer there, although he did not waste time in trying to understand who or what was his element, but still, the magical signature he felt was typical of his magic and he had to thank his precaution that he put some extra barrier to avoid of being detected, otherwise who know how things would have turned out. However, even if he had hidden his magical signature, that dragon slayer should have been able to detect that something was wrong with his heightened sense of smell, still, it seemed he didn't and this made him think about two different possibilities: his sense of smell was weaker than what he thought, or he was busy doing something other, probably eating, and then he did not pay attention to him; well, not that he cared much after all it was better so.

Letting out a sigh and clearing his mind of these thought and then focused on the matter at hand without wasting time, he looked around and found that Yukino was actually resting with her back on the ground, a small cover of sweat covering her forehead and cheeks, but apart from that, she looked fine. Probably she had overdone in practicing with magic, this causing the slayer to chuckle lightly and her enthusiasm, she really was still a child from this point of view, not that it was a bad thing, he had stopped to be naïve when he was a year or so older than her, this depriving him of his childhood and introducing in the world sooner than many other children. He then looked at the things he had left there and saw with satisfaction that everything was just like he had left and nothing was missing. Then, he looked again at Yukino and after putting down the rucksack he had brought with him, he walked toward her with a small smile.

"You overdid again, didn't you?" He asked, but he already knew the answer to his question, but still decided to make it to start the conversation.

"…sorry, I did…" She answered with a bit of tiredness clear in her voice and breath, her body was still lying in the ground, but slowly she was recovering from the effort she did.

"Eheh, don't worry, even I back when I was learning it and I often overdid too." He said stroking her hair with one of his hand, the same smile of before never leaving his face and his eyes were closed, probably he was trying to hide his 'discomfort about his past. Even if he knew that if he talked about it, then, she would believe him without a second thought and he was also sure that she wouldn't talk about it with anyone if he asked her so, but his past wasn't something he could casually talk about. So he preferred to be silent on that matter, but no matter what, he felt like he was kind of betraying her by doing so, not telling her who he was or what he had done and been through.

"Then, what are you going to prepare?" She asked with more energy than before. Ever since she had started to travel with him, he had taken care of cooking and despite her requests of letting her help him, he said that she should focus more on her magic for now. He preferred her do so, because in this manner, she would have been able to protect herself more quickly and he preferred her to be able to fight properly than to know how to cook, that was something she could easily learn in a second moment. Even he learned it after that he had mastered how to use his fire magic, but in truth, it wasn't like someone had taugh him how to cook, he had to learn it by himself to survive: when he had to accomplish a task given by the father of Ruri, he often found himself unable to make use of the comfort of the civilizations and had to survive by himself, this forcing him to learn how to get what he needed to survive and to distinguish what could possibly be harmful. So over the years, he learned pretty well how to make good meals that could both be tasty and satisfy his hunger and need of energy with whatever he could find, even Ruri appreciated his cooking and the meals that the cooks prepared for her weren't a joke. Still, her father never spent too much in that kind of things, preferring to use the money he had access to for other purposes that would bring benefit to all his subjects, also, he wasn't a bad parent, maybe a bit too strict on certain things, but he really cared for his daughter and her future, but he wasn't the kind of person to let his emotions blind him.

This was why he didn't argue when Amissa choose her to bear his power of chaos, he didn't like it…no, he hated it: the fact that his daughter would be forced to fight and kill was something he would have done anything to prevent from happening and it wasn't like he couldn't ask to the king of the chaos dragon to try to search for someone other, but they didn't have the time to do it, the war was already a reality and it would have soon reached them, they couldn't send inexperienced mages to fight against dragons, such thing would have been equal to a suicide. So, grudgingly, the king accepted it, knowing that if he wouldn't have done it, then, not only his people wouldn't have been safe, but even his daughter, no matter how far she wold have sent her, eventually the war would have reached her and then, she would have been helpless against the dragons and finally eaten alive or killed. So he opted for what seemed like the better choice for his people and his daughter.

However, what happened the next day, left him shocked to say the last, surely he had imaged that something like that could happen, but he never really expected it to happen, still, that was something he would never forget, even now he could remember everything.

 **24th-March-369 (flashback)**

'What will he want now?' Natsu thought while facing for the hundredth time his worst enemy there: the labyrinth that was the palace, but for once he had been lucky enough to have a guard lead him to his destination. This avoiding the headache that he was sure would come if he was to venture there alone, still, it didn't prevent the nausea he was having for the huge amount of turns and stairs he had to go through. But finally, this torture was about to end, currently he was in front of the door that lead to the king's office, the place where he requested to meet him and then his destination.

With one last sigh, he resigned himself to the fact he couldn't avoid this meeting and decided that it was better to end this quickly so that he could return to practice his new magic and maybe paying a quick visit to the kitchen, probably he would find something tasty to eat. Just this thought was enough to make his mouth start to water and his stomach grumble in answer, making him clear that now such thing wasn't an option anymore.

So, with his mind spacing out and his stomach grumbling for food, he opened the door and entered in the room. It was the same size as Ruri's one, but the furniture was different, as well as the colours used for the walls, the ceiling and the floor: the latter being made of simple stone and with a pair of red carpet here and there, the other two instead were respectively made of wooden plates of dark oak and of light birch, creating a contrast of light and dark colours. Inside there, he could also spot two bookshelves with plenty of books and scrolls of different kind and of different age; a bed of average size with simple white sheets and a bedside table with a candle on it. Also, there was a door-window on one of the side of the room that lead to a small balcony that overlooked to the centre of the city and then a simple desk with a shelf over it and a small lantern to light it. In truth it didn't really looked like the bedroom of a king, but, considering in what kind of era they were in, the decorations and furniture said king was using could be considered as expensive.

Still, Natsu quickly changed the subject of his attention from his surrounding to the person that he had come to meet and that was actually looking out of the window, not allowing the slayer to see his face. However, this wasn't enough to prevent him from understanding that something wasn't right: he had spent far too much time learning from his travels to understand people and, despite the little 'interference' of his new enchanted senses, that tried to distract him with other details that otherwise he would have ignored or not paid too much attention to, the king couldn't hide this from him. Keeping his guard on but still acting natural, he closed the door and made a step to distance himself from where he had entered. He knew that the king wasn't a fool or an irrational person, so he knew that he wouldn't have tried to kill him or anything, he was a precious resource and wasting time and energy in fighting him would only prove to be both a waste of time and a failure.

"It would appear I made the right choice not to trust your sense of direction." He started with a cold and neutral voice, not giving Natsu any information that could help him understand the reason why he was there and at the same time, irritating him a bit for having hit a sore button.

"At least it prevented me from having the nausea once I arrived here." The slayer replied without many ceremony, in this kind of situation he preferred to frank, knowing that not doing it would only delay the end of this meeting and also, he knew that the king didn't really had a problem with the opinion he had for him. He was using him and so the other was, each one of them taking advantage of the situation.

"Humpf…" The king replied with his eyes never stopping to look out of the window, as if there was something that was particularly interesting him out there or he was simply avoiding to look at him, something he never did, this was really making Natsu's curiosity rise but he didn't say a thing about it and rested his back against the walls that was opposite the window. Silence then was the next thing that filled the air of the room, neither of the two dared to speak, but this didn't mean that the slayer's attention was lessening, instead he was focusing himself on the king's figure, trying to catch any sign or movements that could make him understand what was happening.

"Both you and my daughter had been chosen to bear the power of the dragons." He said breaking the silence between the two and with these words, Natsu understood why he had been called there.

"I assume then that you want me to either make her change her mind or protect her. Right?" He replied letting out a sigh, he should have expected this to happen, not that he was going to complain, after all he would have protected Ruri even if the king himself asked the opposite.

"Not exactly…I'm not a fool and I know that both you and Ruri can hold your ground. You have an incredible magical power and she has a high affinity with magic, this making both of you on the same level of magic power. Still, she's more inexperienced than you on the battlefield and in using magic. So what I want is that you will be by her side on the battlefield and will help her to control her power." The man that ruled that land answered turning his head to look into the other person there right into the eyes. Hearing such words, people might think that the person who said them might not care about their family, but the slayer knew it wasn't this the case. The king had simply acknowledged the fact that he couldn't protect his daughter and even if he asked Natsu to do so, this would only make her go to look for more trouble. So instead of trying to stop her, he wanted her to be able to face what the world she was about to enter: an act, in Natsu's opinion that showed his love for Ruri, but also the fact he respected her and her decision.

"I will. But I think that my teaching won't be necessary to her. As you stated before, she has high affinity with magic and I don't doubt that within a month or so, she will have already mastered her slayer magic." The teen replied calmly, knowing that despite the fact that Ruri never really sustained any particular or intense training, she was able to use magic properly and now that she had acquired a magic as powerful as dragon slayer, he didn't doubt that she would soon be on par with him or even surpass him.

"That's good to hear. Still, I would ask you to fulfil the rest of my request and to help her in her training if necessary." The man stated with even voice, but the other person there, was able to detect a sense of relief in those words.

"The, if there isn't anything more, with your permission, I will take my leave." Then, the moment after he said this, he walked toward his exit and put his hand on the handle and was about to open it to leave that room, when he heard the voice of the person that summoned him there.

"One last thing: I want to thank you for your help with my daughter." He talked, but Natsu didn't pay too much attention and simply opened the door to go out and leave that place. At the moment his mind preferred to focus on one other thing that was much more appealing than remaining there: to eat.

'Hope that there is something I can eat.' He thought, while heading into the labyrinth that was the palace.

 **(end of flashback)**

'Better not to think about the rest…' He thought awkwardly with a silly smile: he could still remember how thing turned once he left the king's room; in one word, one of the worst two hours of his life and to make things even worse, when he arrived in the kitchen he had such nausea that he didn't eat as much as he would have had done before.

Still, thinking about the events of that day made his memory remember some sensation lined to the inferno he had to go through to come out of the palace and he almost vomited on the ingredients he was taking to prepare the meal. At first he had thought of preparing something quick but that would be able to replenish the energy Yukino spent training with her magic. But, considering her current condition and the fact she hadn't eaten any vegetables made him change his mind; so he opted for a vegetables soup with some bread as bonus.

So, first thing to do was to gather the raw material to cook, which wasn't that hard, he just had to search for what he needed and a few minutes later he had taken everything he needed. The second step was to find the right pot and to fill it with water. Finally, he had gathered all the materials he needed and now it was time to cook. Within moments he had cut all the vegetables he had choose, like carrots, marrows, tomatoes and some beetroot, and proceeded to put them inside the pot he was using. Then what was left was to wait and so he did. Minutes later, lunch was ready to be eaten and Yukino was already with the bowl in her hand and a glint in her eyes that showed how hungry she was. This caused Natsu to giggle but still, he gave her what she wanted and immediately after, he did the same with another bowl.

They ate silently, one too busy devouring as much of that soup as was possible, the other simply eating calmly his food while observing the other person there and smiling at how much she was eating. Around ten minutes later, both them had finished to eat and were feeling pretty satisfied and kind of refreshed. Still, while Natsu was perfectly fine and was sure he would be able to put a good fight if it was necessary, his apprentice was in a different state. Her gaze was now lost and it was clear that she was feeling tired, probably the consequence of eating a good meal after training for a long time. Even the slayer had the same problem a pair of times back when he was still training and he knew very well how to resolve.

"You should rest now, you spent the entire morning training, don't force yourself." He said kindly with a soft smile and putting a hand on her shoulder to reassure her and to make her understand that it was fine to rest. Moreover, he could see that she was forcing herself in staying awake, even her eyes were now half open.

"But…I want to be able to…'yawn'…use my magic…" She replied, showing him her resolve. But the fact that now her eyes were slowly closing and the yawn he let out before didn't help her in any way.

"Don't be impatient, you have plenty of time to learn how to use it." He answered back with the same soft tone of before, something he thought, he wouldn't have been able to do after everything he's been through. However, Yukino was really stubborn and was about to reply again, when, she couldn't fight back her sleep anymore and slowly she fell asleep and Natsu had to use his arm to prevent her from falling on the ground. He had decided to train her in using her magic only because she had asked him to, so, there was no hurry for that forced them not to rest sometimes.

After a quick look around, he placed her with her back resting on a nearby tree so that she wouldn't fall on the ground. Once he had positioned her, he then looked at her sleeping face and a soft and gentle smile formed on his face. She looked so innocent and defenceless, when she was sleeping, no one would be able to guess what she had to go through before he met her and from his point of view, the fact she didn't chose to search for revenge but instead, to prepare herself to face what the future will throw at her and to be strong enough not to lose again what she cares for, showed how strong she truly was. The more time he spent with her, the more he understood that they were each other opposite from the point of view of the decisions.

'Now…what to do?' He thought looking around and exanimating all the option he had: he could try to search for a river and wash the items they used to eat and cook, otherwise he could try to use the water they had at their disposal to avoid to spend time searching for other source of the same element. Still, he could also use his fire to remove the residues of the food and this, from his point of view, was the best choice. So, this left him at the starting point.

'Maybe I could do some training…after all it's been a while since I did it.' He was right: it's been since he met Yukino that he decided not to do some serious training and not to release his true power to avoid that she discovered what he's capable of. Also, to ensure that she didn't know it, in the past days he hadn't took any mission that would force him to fight seriously, not that he wouldn't have acted differently if he would have been alone. After all he had taken only two mission since his little apprentice joined him.

'Yes, I think it's a good idea, still, I'd better find a safe place…' He thought starting to walk away from the camp in search of a good place where he could let out his power without worrying too much of his surrounding but keeping himself near enough to the camp so that if something might happen, he would be able to act.

Luckily, he didn't have to search for too much, nor to go too far from his base when he found a clearing of around 40m2 with some rocks here and there and some bushes. The only thing he had to do was to remove the bushes and then to move some rocks, then everything would be perfect. Without wasting time, he burned the elements that he wanted to get rid of and moved the rocks so that they were good targets for some of his attacks.

Taking a deep breath and taking one last look around him, he prepared to unleash his true abilities. The air around him was already heating up and the grass was quickly drying up and almost burned. Having confirmed that there was no one around there, he finally let out his magic. Immediately a wave of energy shook everything around him and soon after this, his skin started to change, turning from his light tan colour to dark coloured scales, then, two draconic wings came out from his shoulders, each formed by one single section and with dark grey membrane. From his head came out four small dark grey horns with the tip pointed upwards. His hands turned into claws and so did his feet, thank god he had taken off his boots before he released his power. Feeling the change stop, he inspected himself and was surprised when he found that his dragonification hasn't progressed, meaning that something had slowed or even stopped the dragon seed inside him from expanding his roots inside him.

"Let's see what I can do…" To say the truth, ever since he came out from that abyss he had been blocked for four centuries, he had never taken that form, so using it again was like learning to go on bike again, he just needed to remember how to ride and it was done. There was just one problem, with riding he meant controlling his power and it certainly wasn't easy. Still, sooner or later he would have had to start and at this point it was better to do it now rather than after.

Channelling his power in his arm, it soon lit up with a dark crimson flames. At first he checked how much control he had over that fire and noticed that he could perfectly control it within the limit of possible. Then, he rotated of about 180o and then shot a small sphere of concentrated fire toward the rock in front of him. As soon as his attack hit its target, it caused an explosion that seeing the dimension of the sphere that generated it would seem impossible. Then, once the smoke dissolved, he was able to see clearly the damage he caused: the rock had shattered into two large pieces with smaller chipping all around it and almost all the surface was black because of the fire.

'I can't control it properly, guess I spent too much time doing nothing.' He thought looking at his hand. When he summoned the fire, he was trying his hardest to keep it at low level of power and when he shot his attack, he didn't mean to cause all those damage. He really needed to work on that. Letting out a small sigh then, he decided to go on with his training.

First off, he rushed toward the same rock he had already damaged and with a horizontal slash, he successfully demolished it. Then, imaging attack coming from behind, he flexed his legs and then used both them and his wings to jump and land on another rock, shattering it and sinking it slightly in the ground. Then he put his hand on the ground and rose his legs and channelled his fire there, then he started to spin around and the fire damaged everything around him, if a group of people was surrounding him, then, they would be dead by now. Still, he wasn't finished yet, he was still ready to fight more and his training wasn't finished yet. He stood up and looked around himself, the ground around him was pretty much burned and the dirt was now completely black and the grass gone, still there were some rocks that were intact and that would be good target for his next attacks.

Inhaling as much air as he could, he aimed at the rock and once he was sure of his target and that he wouldn't cause any collateral damage: he released it and a torrent of flames came out at full force incinerating anything it came across and leaving nothing but burned dirt and when it finally collided with the rock, this one wasn't able to withstand the heat and shattered in pieces. However, the torrent of fire didn't seem to stop and if something wouldn't have prevented it from continuing to advance then there wouldn't been any forest but only scorched land. So without wasting anymore time, he jumped from his position and with a swift movement he was able to land just in front of the tree and then released a second breath disperse the first one, but is attempt to stop his own attack succeeded only partially and part of it ended up burning the surrounding area. As for him, he was perfectly fine, his scales being able to withstand such temperature easily.

'I have to be more careful…'sigh', guess that it's better to start from something less dangerous.' He thought shaking his head with one of his clawed hand. At first, he thought that he could easily control his power even when they were at their highest, but it seemed he was wrong.

Not releasing his form, he walked toward the centre of what remained of the clearing he burned and sat there with his legs crossed. Normally he would have walked away from that place, to avoid of being seen by people that might have noticed either his magical energy, which wasn't exactly normal, or the chaos he had generated there, which also wasn't normal. However, he chooses not to move from there because in his condition he could also let out some random flames that would burn the forest around him, so it was best to be surrounded by burned land where the fire couldn't spread to avoid any unwanted damage.

By closing his eyes, he let himself search inside him, grasp his own magic and its power, it seemed to be almost alive. It was a good sensation that made him smile, it was like he was touching something that was comfortably warm, but that was something that any fire mage could feel. His magic was different, he was a dragon slayer, he could feel the fire that some dragons used and that was their life force, but that wasn't the same power that the dragons felt. His magic was meant to kill those creature, to slay them, thus, his fire was meant to kill, for which purpose, it was up to the user to decide, but still, it was a weapon. However, as he let himself feel his magic, he could feel how it had become: it was a tumultuous mix of energy where he could feel both himself, his other self and even a third trace that was probably him. The one that was both who condemned him and both the one that stopped him from turning completely into a monster. The reason that made him act so were unknown to him, but he had a pair of theories, but so they were, theories, nothing certain.

However, as he thought about the past, something that happened for the second time in the present, occurred and required his attention. Slowly, he let out another sigh and with a slight smile he stood up and opened his eyes, only to turn them to his left, there he found his little apprentice: Yukino.

For the second time she managed to find him while he was training, only, this time he didn't look like a normal human and this could turn out to be a problem, for him at least. Moreover, just by looking at her in the eyes, he could see a hint of fear, not that he could blame her. This wasn't the first time that someone felt scared by witnessing his power, only it was the first time that this happened because of his appearance.

"Haven't I already told you not to spy on other people." He scolded her with half-smile and ending with a chuckle.

"Sorry…it was just that…I couldn't find you and when I felt your magic…I decided to watch what were you doing…" Indeed, he should have predicted this much, but he miscalculated the amount of time and the power he used during this session. Moreover, Yukino was extremely curious sometimes and stubborn. This leading to the current predicament, which could also could turn into a worse one.

"'sigh'…You really are incorrigible sometimes." He chuckled with a smile, showing his canines and a few other teeth that were sharper than normal due to his transformation. Then, slowly, he undid his transformation and his features returned to be those of a normal human with some small difference that were almost impossible to notice.

Immediately, he saw that the hint of fear in her eyes ease up but yet, not disappear. Still, this didn't change his attitude and didn't make his smile disappear. Then he ruffled her hair and when he removed his hand, she put her own two hands on the top of her head.

"Oh well, guess that it's better to talk about this with something to eat."

It was getting late and the sun was disappearing over the horizon. The sky already turning into a shade of blue that was the classic one of night time and his stomach grumbled in protest for the lack of food. So, without wasting anymore time, he headed toward their 'base' with the young blue haired girl. Within a few minutes they had both arrived and he started to pick up what he considered as necessary to cook what he had in mind. At the same time, Yukino was preparing everything for dinner, from the tools to prepare the food to the cutlery that they would use. Still, while she did so, her eyes had a hollow expression, her mind was focused not on what she was doing, but on what she had seen before, especially on what was it.

"I know what you're thinking: 'What was that form of before?' Or something along the line."

"…" No words came from her mouth. He anticipated her, not that it was a surprising thing, but still, this made her stop and sighed in defeat. Yes, she wanted to ask him that exact question, her curiosity had won over her will and now she wished to know. Within a few more moments, she finished the necessary preparations for dinner, she looked over to her mentor and stared at him. Noticing this, Natsu smiled lightly before speaking.

"I was training like last time you peeked on me. Just this time I decided to be more serious: that form was a manifestation of the 'core' of my magic. That form allows me to turn into a half dragon, increasing my power, stamina and giving me a pair more of bonus." He explained with a chuckle at the end, thinking about how in that form he had claws that could easily cut almost anything and wings that allowed him short flies.

"So when you use that form you're almost like a true dragon?" She asked, more eager than before to know the answers to her questions.

"Eheh, yes, I'm almost like a dragon." He answered with fake joy, trying to hide the bitterness he held in saying those words. It may be true that he was 'almost' like a dragon now, but that form, also represented how his dragonification was progressing. Normally, when someone start to drgonify, they become unable to return to a human form until they complete the process and even then, they could turn into a human form only if they managed to understand how to change form, which wasn't an easy task.

As for him, his dragonification stopped once he ended up being trapped inside that void that was his prison for four centuries and moreover, he noticed he could also turn completely into his human self, not showing the slightest sign of being practically half dragon.

"Your magic is truly amazing." Yukino stated in awe, impressed even more than when she found out what magic his mentor used.

"Thanks, but even yours isn't anything less." He answered with a wry smile. To him, the power he held was like a double edge sword: from one side he had access to a very vast amount of power that could be rivalled only by a few other magic that weren't common at all; but on the other hand, his body suffered changes because of its use and sometimes, even the mind could. Lucky him, such thing hadn't occurred yet and he truly hoped it wouldn't happen in the future.

"Really…Then I need to train even more to become stronger." She declared with her tiny fists closed and a determined look. Which, no matter how serious she was, made Natsu laugh.

"Yes, but before of we both need to eat and here is our dinner." He replied before giving access to both of them to their meal. Then, without a second thought, they both started eating the meat and bread he just cooked. But while the young stellar mage was focused on eating, Natsu started to lose himself in his own thoughts. The young girl he was training had a great potential like a few other lucky people could and if trained in the right way, she would become a force to be wary of. But before such time would come, she would have had to spend years to practice and maybe, maybe she would even surpass him and truly he kind of hoped so.

But such future was not now but ahead of them and to achieve it, they would first need to focus on the present, so thinking too much about it would result in a loss of time and right now he had some food to focus on.

 **Sorry if this chapter didn't exactly satisfy you, but I needed it, because I don't want to rush this story. Still, next chapter will be more interesting and, SPOILER, two more characters will enter the story.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Yes, I Know I haven't published anything in the past months and I've both started my fifth year of high school and I'm writing a story of my own, the only problem is that I don't have any idea about the title, still, I'm writing the story, so I'm still going on. As to answer to some of your comment: yes, Ruri will not be reunited with Natsu for some time, but not too much, trust me, also, I never said that the story itself would resolve only around those two and once you have finished to read the chapter you will understand (please don't skip and go to the end, because that would ruin all the rest of the test). Also, I know some of you don't really like the fact that I have chosen to give space to Yukino instead of Ruri, but this is something I will need for the future of the story, together with another character I hate with all my soul. That said, I leave you to the chapter, see you.**

 **-Death and Life-**

 **6th-June-X784-Somewhere in Fiore**

Nine months, that's the amount of time passed ever since Yukino found out about Natsu's magic and during this time, things have changed in various way: first, Yukino had improved greatly, managing to summon her first stellar spirit, Deneb the swan, and to form her first contract, also, he managed to get the silver key of Polaris but she hasn't used it yet. She still can't summon him for more than ten minutes, but with time she will improve. As for the other news: Natsu had kept looking for more information about Acnologia and about what happened 400 years ago; unfortunately, it seemed that the black dragon hadn't been seen around in the past years and surprisingly, there were very few information about the dragon civil war than what he thought. Heck, there were time that he felt like an archaeologist for how much more he knew of that period than other people. Still, this didn't stop him from keep searching for her.

Strangely enough, in the past few days he had problems in sleeping and he often ended up thinking back to the old days, when he, Ruri and Haru played together and they didn't know of how cruel the world is. Thinking back to those days brought a mixed feelings of nostalgia, happiness and sorrow: at that time, they were truly inseparable and often caused troubles or ended up in troubles and they were often scolded and lectured by Courmeum. He let out a small laugh at such thoughts.

'I wish I could go back to that time.'

He missed them, he missed both of them and even he wished they were still with him, but one was dead, killed by the same dragons that he hated so much, while the other sacrificed herself to save him and now he didn't know where she is.

'Well, at least this life isn't all bad.'

Indeed, over time, he managed to get over such facts and go on, he missed them, but he also knew that grieving over their loss wouldn't do any good. Now, he had to find her and then maybe he would be able to get some rest, he had fought for many years, his hate had filled his being for so much time he thought he wouldn't be able to live without it, but he was wrong: now in this time, where the war he fought is only an old memory, he managed to live past it, but not to be freed completely. His hate is still there, deep inside him lurking in the depth of his soul like a beast; it's something that is part of him now and forever, but that doesn't mean he can't enjoy life and his current activity with Yukino is a proof of it.

'Still…why do I have this bad feeling…?'

They were actually lodging in a hotel in a small town and his little apprentice was resting in their room while he was returning after having talked with their client about the details of their next job, which would be and extermination of some giant lizard near there that were causing troubles in town. The payment wasn't bad, but they didn't have a desperate need to earn some money, still, he wanted to use this as a chance to see if Yukino can fight against this kind of opponent, worst case scenario he will have to roast a few lizards. Such thought made him let out a small laugh, but it was short lived, because he was still worried: it's been practically a year since he came out of his prison and nothing particular happened, but he still had a bad feeling that prevent him from lowering his guard. Something was about to happen, that's what his instinct told him.

Entering the room that they occupied during the last night, he noticed that Yukino was already preparing their things to go. She really had a kind soul, despite what happened to her family and she did her best. Even now, he found that almost everything was ready for their task and that she was ready to go.

"You really are excited to take part in this mission."

"Yup, after all this will be the first time I will be able to help Natsu-san to accomplish this job." She replied with a gentle smile.

From where, or when, he came, magic was mostly used to contain dragon's attack and then when the dragon slayer's magic was created to kill them. Thus, mages were a precious resources and couldn't be 'wasted'. Once the dragon civil war ended, the use of mages was predictable and from what he had read he was right: once the war with the dragons ended the mages were used as weapon in war and often ended up changing the course of a war. However, the actual situation was slightly different, with most mages being part of guilds that accepted request in exchange of money.

Having come to know this, Natsu had started to think to make use of this in order to find a suitable place for Yukino. It wasn't like he didn't like her or wanted to get rid of her, no, but he knew for sure that sooner or later he would have to face his past with his brother Zeref and he didn't want to expose her to such danger, because it was highly possible for her to die and he wouldn't accept such thing, no, it was better if she could enter some guild. Still, he couldn't simply choose one randomly: after all, he was well aware of how unscrupulous some could be, so it would still take some time before he would part from her.

Thinking this they both came out of the hotel and walked toward the forest where their prey resided. The town was particularly big, but compared to how villages were when he still worked for Ruri's father, it was far bigger than them. Not that it's a surprise, after all 400 years ago all towns and city weren't that big due to the presence of dragons attacking and destroying them. But now, apart from Acnologia, the only thing that could be said to kind of resemble a dragon were Wyverns and they weren't that common either. So, the development of city and town was inevitable and seeing isolated houses isn't that common.

It took them a few minutes to enter the woods and he took out a map to decide the best way to reach the nest of those lizards. The forest surrounded completely the town but on the north-west side, the space between trees was bigger than on the other sides. This conformation was probably due to the fact that this side of the forest was also the one with a greater amount of fauna than in the other sections and this direction was the one that lead to the lizards's nest.

They walked for not even one hour with a good speed and neither of them was tired or showed signs of fatigue: for Natsu it was thanks to all the years he spent working for the king and to all the fights he had taken part; as for Yukino, well, during the last year improved a lot with all the time she spent walking around with her 'teacher' and even if she wasn't on the same level with Natsu, for obvious reason, she wasn't that bad either.

Considering where they were and how much time has passed since they left the city, they should be very near their destination and considering the pink haired dragon slayer's previous experiences those Lizards should be not too far. But yet he couldn't any other living presence other than him and Yukino, which made him all the more alert. That day there wasn't any wind blowing in the area, but a light breeze came in their direction, bringing something that made Natsu's entire body froze on the spot, his eyes wide and a mix of fear and anger was boiling in them.

'That stench…it can't be.'

Instinctively, he waved at Yukino to come near him and then he told her with a motion of his head to remain near him. Even if she didn't have his enchanted senses and his experience, even her could feel that there was something terribly wrong forward. He looked around, ascertaining that there wasn't anyone or anything near them and then he proceeded: why did he bring his apprentice along is something he doesn't really know, maybe because he thought that she would have been safer with him that on her own, or maybe because his mind was rendered blind by the anger boiling inside him. Still, it's a matter of fact that the young girl came with him and that may not be the best course that the events could take, yet, it happened.

Walking without stopping, but still action cautious of their surroundings and soon, he had the final confirmation of what he feared: corpses. Corpses of the lizards that they were supposed to hunt and they were still fresh and without the slightest sign of injury or disease, they were like someone had sucked out from their body their life force and then left them on the spot. However, it wasn't just the animals that were dead, but all the surroundings, no matter where they looked, all around that area was dead and silent. Even the colours had left that place, making the atmosphere all the more disturbing and causing Natsu's nerves to be so tense that they could snap at any moment. As for the small girl, she was terrified by that scenario, she had already seen death when she has seen her village being burned down, but this was completely different by what she had seen and she couldn't help but cling even closer to her 'teacher'. Her grip on his clothes so strong that she could almost tear them, but he didn't mind it, he had seen death many times, but the death that he was capable to unleash is something that even scare him. Not because he is scared of dyeing, surely he wanted to live, but when you see this scenario you can't help but shiver in fear, because his work made what happened look like a god of some sort had simply snapped its fingers and then had turned everything silent, it was really something to be afraid of.

"You finally came." A monotone and calm voice sounded in that place, causing to both the other two to look in that direction and found the responsible for what occurred there. He appeared as a young man around twenty with short black hair and dark eyes. As for what he was wearing, they were a high-collared red and a tan robes with gold trim, along with a large, flowing white toga draped around his torso and he also noticed a strange necklace around his neck and that item in particular caught his attention. Still, he quickly turned his attention from the item, to the person that was wearing it; there were no doubts about it, he was the dark mage Zeref. Although he had never met him face to face, he had something like a ghost memory of him when he was still a child and despite some differences, there were some similarities that confirmed his identity and that was enough for him to look at the person that was both his brother and the one who revived him with anger building inside him. The reason behind this emotion was simple, but he managed to understand it only thanks to the four century of imprisonment: after Exitium gave let him have control over his body once more, something that he could only describe as pure malice was surging inside him, trying to take over and because of it, Ruri was forced to seal him away, this way sealing what was trying to come out from him once more. He had thought about what that thing was, but he couldn't answer the question so easily and so, he tried to search inside him and it took him a lot of efforts to manage to find out the source and it was the worst thing possible: it was E.N.D. The demon that was the master piece of Zeref's creations, but still, he had heard in the past that such demon had caused more than a few disaster and yet if he was E.N.D., he didn't have any memory of doing such things.

He had thought about this and had an idea about the answer, but for now, it was better to analyse it later. He kept staring at Zeref, his cold and enraged gaze fixed on his figure and he didn't seem to be perturbed in the slightest, no, he didn't show anything: his face was more akin to a mask with a fake smile on it and that was impossible to see through. That was the impression he had about him and it worked only to make him more nervous. He could feel cold sweat starting to pour out from his forehead and his hands had small and irregular twitch, another sign of his nervousness.

"Last time you were sealed away…but, I hope you will be able to kill me this time." His voice never changed and remained always the same monotone one, another thing that made even harder to understand what he was thinking. Still, considering what he had just told he wanted to be killed, the reason behind such desire was unknown to Natsu. He knew about the natural instinct of E.N.D. to kill his creator, but, he would never borrow that power, because it would allow the demon that Ruri sealed to be freed and he would never allow that to happen.

"You bet I will do it!... **FIRE DRAGON'S ROAR**!" He didn't waste a single second and he unleashed a huge torrent of flames went straight for the black mage while at the same time scorching the earth on its path toward the target. The result was a true inferno, everywhere were flames consuming the surroundings and the everything between the dragon slayer and the dark haired man was burned until it was pitch black and was slowly turning into ashes. Yukino had never seen Natsu us this much power in a single attack and she couldn't help but be afraid, afraid of not only what was occurring there, but also of Natsu himself: his eyes were filled with rage, a rage that was directed toward that mage she didn't know, but she could still feel that something was terribly wrong with him. The death of that place, she almost had the impression that it was dancing around him, like he was some kind of bonfire around which gathered people to dance and enjoy the moment and even now, she had the impression that the death of that place was gathering around the spot where the flames were burning with more ferocity and where she had seen that young man.

"Yukino, run away from here and hide somewhere, this place is dangerous and I don't want you to get involved." He looked at her, his anger temporary gone and replaced with concern for his little apprentice, he truly cared for her and he feared that Zeref might kill her or worse that he accidentally hurt her. His magic was one with the highest destructive power among its kind, maybe on par even with the chaos element and it was because of this that it was dangerous: once he unleashed his fire, it would burn anything it touch until it has reduced everything to ashes or either, someone would find a way to make his fire go away and up till now if he excluded a few dragons that were fire element based or extremely powerful, the only ones that managed to endure his flames were Ruri and Exitium. However, he doubted that Zeref would die easily, after all he managed to live for 400 years and it wasn't a case that he was considered immortal, so he would have to really go all out against him.

"Y-yes…" The small girl managed to answer back and then she run away just like he told her with her rucksack. He smiled bitterly at this: he didn't like how things have turned and he hated the fact that she had to be involved, but this was something he could run from and had to face it now or never and he had never been the kind of person that run away unless it was the only possible option.

As soon as she was out of his sight and behind the trees of the forest he shifted his gaze on where his attack had it. In truth that attack was one of his most powerful and it was able to injure badly even a dragon, but he doubted that it would have been enough to kill Zeref. After all, he was the creator of E.N.D. and despite having the appearance of a human, he doubts he is weak enough to get killed by a single attack.

"Even if you were sealed you truly has grown stronger." It sounded more like a whisper and if he wasn't wrong, the tone had also changed: it wasn't the same emotionless of before, but he felt like a sense of nostalgia and bitterness. He thought he had imaged it, but still, his anger seemed to calm down a bit, making him look at the inferno he had caused and then he saw the figure of his brother: he had a few burns of his body and a pair were actually pretty serious, but he still had that same sile of before and his clothes weren't as ruined as he had expected.

Clicking his tongue, he took the right stance to continue his attack, but he didn't clash with him immediately and instead looked at him straight in the eyes and saw something that surprised him, but he pushed it to the back of his mind and charged at him: flames gathered on one of his arms and when he was in range he unleashed another torrent of his fire at full force, pursing his assault, he then kicked him while having his leg covered by his fire, burning the surrounding area and sending Zeref to fly away toward a rock. When his body hit it, the rock was smashed in pieces but he got up shortly after the impact, more burns on his body and his clothes were starting to get ruined, yet, his expression didn't change and Natsu also noticed that his wounds were regenerating at a rate that allowed him to witness the disappearance of some of them.

"That won't be enough…"

Hearing this words, the pink haired dragon slayer looked at the dark mage's face, his eyes were now shadowed by his hair and the smile of before had disappeared. All these elements, made him all the more alert of his next move, because at this point he feared he had underestimated him.

"Maybe I should kill her…That way you would hate me."

'Hating you?! You just have given me one more reason to hate you!' He thought before letting out all his rage and allowing it to fuel his magic. He wanted to kill Yukino, so that he would try to take revenge, but right now he had given him one more reason to fight and it was to protect her: in the past, he couldn't prevent his creation, E.N.D., from trying to take over his body and so Ruri had to seal him away in order to protect him and everything else. It may not have been his direct fault, but the face of Ruri crying before he disappeared in the void that became his prison was something he never forgot. That time symbolized to him the last of his failure, the failure in protecting her and he couldn't forget it: the emotions of then were still fresh in his mind as if it was just yesterday and it increased his anger and breaking all of his restrains. A sudden wave of het was unleashed from the teen's body, setting ablaze everything that wasn't burning and increasing both the numbers and size of the fire all around him: dark grey scales spread on his body, a sound of bones cracking and then rearranging themselves could be heard and two horns came out from his head while a pair of wings formed on his back. His eyes were closed, but then, he opened them, revealing slit pupils and a burning rage that seemed to be the incarnation of his fire itself. Moving at inhuman speed, he was already in front of Zeref and he prepared to unleash his fist at full force.

" **FIRE DRAGON'S…** " At first it seemed like the same attack as before, only more powerful; but then the fire on the fist started to swirl and all the fire that had spread around seemed to be called back and joined with the flames on his arms, melting with each other and then taking a darker tone.

"… **RUIN'S DEMOLITION!** " Hate, anger, rage, sadness and desire to protect, those were the emotion that were actually fuelling Natsu's power and that made even use of something more, something even him wasn't aware of and it the heat of the moment he didn't even noticed it. Still, feeling the sheer amount of power behind that attack, Zeref thought that maybe with that power he would be able to finally give him the rest of death, yes it may be able to truly kill him.

The fist made contact with his belly and instantly the clothes there were burned while the flesh melt due to the combination of the heat and of the destructive ability of that other power. The dark mage didn't try to dodge the attack and fully received it, his body was sent flying of ten meters and all the earth between his previous position and his actual one was reduced to nothing. However, once he unleashed the attack, Natsu felt like a spear had pierced him: a strange pain was surging into his body and his energy had been suddenly drained. If he was to consider another attack of similar force, then he would have been able to unleash only one more before having to return to his human form. Still, he stood up and looked at his foe: he had impacted on several trees and now he was laying on their destroyed logs. But he was already recovering from the hit and soon he would stand up once more.

Focusing all his remaining energy in this last attack, he channelled his magic power in his mouth and prepared his breath attack.

" **FIRE DRAGON'S…INFERNAL TURRENT!** " Just like the name said, the fire that came out from his mouth was truly like a river from Hell had materialized in the world, scorching the dirt until it had turned into ashes and burning the rest until nothing remained. The attack went straight for its target and hit it successfully, preventing anyone from seeing his figure. As soon as his breath attack stopped, his form returned to be human and then he fell on the ground: his breath irregular and heavy, sweat was sweat was also pouring down from his forehead and he was feeling extremely tired, but still he could move and he wasn't going to stay there.

'At this point I can't do anything more…' He was tired and he had almost run out of magical energy and he had very few remaining. If he was forced to fight, he doubted he would be able to do it, still, he couldn't understand why he had felt so tired after only two spell, during the previous months he had trained using even his draconic form and even after an hour he could still go on, so the reason why he felt that way remained unknown. On the other hand, he noticed that the power behind each of his attacks was far superior to that he normally used and in truth, he didn't even know he could use that much power. The question then wasn't anymore why he felt so tired, but where did that power came from? It was familiar to him, yet, different, like something he knew had evolved over time.

"So even with his power you can't kill me…" That voice…upon hearing it, the dragon slayer's head turned toward where his breath attack was directed: everything there was no more to be seen and remained only what could be described as a blackened corridor of ash scorched by fire, yet, Zeref stood there, his body was almost burned completely and there were pieces of flesh that were about to fall from his body, yet, he was still alive. Seeing this, Natsu's eyes widened in shock.

'H-how can he be alive…?' He was sure that with the power of his last attack he would have been able to kill practically any dragon and wound badly even a dragon king and yet, he clashed head on with it and survived.

"You have almost exhausted all of your power but maybe if I bring you more desperation you will be able to fight." As soon as he heard these words, his blood froze and fear crept inside him. A spiral of black magic was gathering in one of his hand and then he directed his gaze toward a rock at the limit of the land that Natsu had burned and then he saw that behind that rock was Yukino. The look on her face was of complete fear and shock, she was just standing there looking at both of them while her body appeared to be frozen on the spot. Turning quickly his eyes toward the dark mage, he saw that he was about to unleash his magic toward the young girl.

"YUKINO…RUUUN…"

He couldn't even finish his sentence that he saw Zeref direct a ray of black magic toward Natsu's apprentice and he couldn't do anything: the distance between him and the attack was too much. Time seemed to have slowed down and he saw as the magic of Zeref approached the small girl. Again, again he was unable to protect someone dear to him, again the only thing he could do was to witness another death without that he could do anything to stop it from taking place.

'Why…why does it have to always happen…'

The attack exploded and dark energy covered where she was standing, depriving of life all the surrounding and turning all the colour in white and black. A single tear streamed down the dragon slayer's face at such view, he had failed again. Rage started to surge in him but then it stopped and utter shock took its place: Yukino was on the ground, her eyes closed and her breath weak, but he could still see her chest rising up and down. However, what left him speechless wasn't her condition, but the one who had saved her: short dark hair, purple eyes and a clothes that haven't changed since the last time he saw them four hundred years ago. It was him, the one who was responsible for countless slaughters and for having caused a destruction and chaos in all the world like no one had: it was Exitium, he was still alive.

"Tch, so neither of you has changed." A mix of emotions that could be hardly described surged in Natsu: hate, rage, fear, shock and confusion. Still, the emotions were so strong he remained frozen where he was standing, not knowing what to do or what was happening.

"I know you hate me dragon slayer, I can smell it from here, but it would be better for you if you brought this one to a doctor as soon as possible." He was right, if he was to look at her, she didn't seem to be in good condition. Still, why was he here and above all, why did he save her life? He had slaughtered countless lives in the past, be them dragons, animals or humans, he killed them all without showing any mercy or any regret and then, here he is after 400 years in the same place where he and Zeref are clashing and the thing he did was to save one's life. What happened? He walked toward him while keeping a vigilant eye on him and the black mage, not trusting neither of the two for obvious reasons. Still, none of the two moved or attempted to attack, they simply remained still without uttering a word. Soon, he reached Yukino's body and after looking at her body to make sure he was alive, he was relieved: she didn't have any external injures nor she seemed to be sick, still, she had a thin veil of sweat on her forehead and her breath was very weak, if anything he would say that she had passed out because someone had drained her of all her energy. Taking her in his arms while making sure to not hurt her, he looked once more at the duo and then headed toward the town, if there was a way to prevent her from dying, he would do anything, he had already seen too many people dear to him die to see another leave this world.

Silence reigned over the scorched scenario for several minutes, Natsu's footsteps were now gone and it was a matter of fact that the only living beings there were the two of them. Each was looking in the eyes of the other with stares that were like an enigma, neither of the two showing what they were thinking or how they felt. They were just cold stares deprived of anything that made their eyes look like those of two sculptures of a perfect that resulted to be cold.

"It's been a long time since we last met." The first to broke the silence was the dark haired boy and his voice sounded more like the edge of a blade ready to be unleashed and slaughter anything it came across.

"Have you come here to grant my wish?" To his words Zeref replied at his own pace with a monotonous and bitter voice.

"Unfortunately for you no, I am here to deal with a few mistake of mine…"

"So you intend to talk with him."

"…and to talk with you." To this Zeref remained kind of surprised: the two had known each other for a long time, both of them having lived for over 400 years now and both of them having experienced things that normal humans would never see. From this kind of perspective, they were similar, yet, they never considered each other as a friend or an ally, but has an enemy or an opportunity. Still, after he heard these words, a smile formed on the black mage's face and his eyes looked straight into the other's.

 **Time skip: 1 hour and 23 minutes**

It took less time than what he expected to reach the town, but in order to arrive so quickly he had to spend a lot of energy and now he was really exhausted. If someone was to challenge him now, he wouldn't be able to even fight. Right now he was sitting on a chair inside the room he and Yukino were occupying and at least she didn't seem to be risking her life anymore: as soon as he arrived, he came searching for a doctor or something along the line and it took him a few minutes before he found him. As excuse for Yukino's condition he said that he had found her in that state and he didn't know exactly what happened, he couldn't just tell them that the dark mage and one of the most dangerous living beings that has ever existed were near there, so he had to come up with an excuse and since he was also exhausted his mind wasn't working at its best. Still, her condition was enough to make the doctor worry about her and not about what exactly happened to her. It took him more than ten minutes to check and analyse what had happened and thank fully she wasn't risking to die anymore: apparently she had been hit by some kind of magic that managed to drain all of her energies, making her pass out. Still, it appeared that if she was to remain near the source of the spell, this would have worsened and may also lead to her death, so the fact that he brought her away from the source was the reason for which she was alive. As for now, she only needed to rest for a while and once she would wake up, she shouldn't have done anything too tiresome for a few more days, then she would be fine.

'Why was he here and why did he act that way?' Natsu couldn't help but ask this question endlessly. No matter how he looked at it, the fact that Exitium decided to show up now and save her life made no sense at all. If he simply appeared and let her die, then he might have tried to take control of him again, but instead he not only saved Yukino's life, but also allowed them to escape alive from a fight with the black mage Zeref. It really made no sense at all. Why, why did it have to be the same being that ruined his life 400 years ago the one who now saved the life of someone dear to him that would have died without his help, it felt both cruel and impossible at the same time and again, he couldn't understand the reason behind this: was he trying to make him do something, no if he wanted to do it, he could simply use the same technique he used four centuries ago to control him, still, during the short amount of time he had seen him, he had noticed that the sense of oppression caused by his magic seemed to be weaker like a blade that had its blade eaten by the rust due to the time. However, he doubted that he didn't have the power to control others. Another option was scheming something that required the use of Yukino's magic, after all celestial magic wasn't something that common and even if over time it had become more used, during the dragon civil war there were very few mages that used that magic or so he knew; but again, if that was his objective, he would have taken Yukino with him and controlled her with his power, unless…unless there was something he didn't know about how his magic worked. So, for now he chooses to not consider this option, still, by doing so, he found himself at the starting point once more, with no clue about his intention and without any indication about his next move, he was in a situation of complete confusion.

'What will he do now?' The mental question he just asked to himself didn't remain without an answer for too much time, because he felt his energy. Although it would be wrong to say that he managed to detect him, but more like he was letting out his magic to make him know he was there and considering what he had been through in the past because of him, he recognized that magic immediately. As if his energy had returned, he stood up and walked toward the door, he was about to open it, when he looked behind him and toward Yukino, she was still asleep and he didn't feel comfortable to leave her alone, but if he didn't go to where he was, he might also just come there or worse, destroy the town, at this point even he couldn't image what Exitium was up to and this made him all the more dangerous. He bit on his lower lip in frustration and then he exited from the room with quick and regular steps: he wished to reach him as soon as possible and to solve the matter without having anyone knew about it. Maybe he was here to kill him, or he was simply toying with him and wished to torture him in some ways. It also existed the possibility that he was there to mock him and then just go away, at this point every possibility could become reality and he had one reason for going to meet him. After all, he had lost all traces of Ruri and the only useful information he had about her was that she probably had turned into Acnologia, but even that wasn't something that he could say to be true, sure he believed in it with all himself, but there wasn't any evident proof to support his idea and he was the only one that possibly knew something about her.

It was with such conviction that he walked toward the place where he felt he was: it was just outside the town, but from what he could remember it was distant enough to allow the trees of that place to hide him from the eyes of other people that didn't knew he was there. Still, the fact it wasn't far from the living centre, allowed Natsu to cover the distance between his original position to his destination in a few minutes and so, he found himself face to face with him; he was leaning his back against a tree, while using one of his hand to play with a leaf. It was strange to see him like this, if it wasn't for his past experience he would say that he looked almost like a normal teen, still there were a few things he noticed when he looked at him: in the first place, he wasn't covered by his usual miasma, he remembers that the first time he saw him 400 years ago, he had his entire body clad in that strange miasma that devoured everything but now there wasn't a single trace of it, maybe he didn't think it could be useful right now. Second, one of his eyes, in the past he had seen only one of his two eyes and from then he assumed they were of the same colour, but instead he was wrong, because while one was of the same cold dark purple he remembered, the other was of a dark brown that was in total contrast with the other one. Finally, the aura he had, in the past when he had looked at him, he had felt terrified by him, but now, it wasn't so anymore and it seemed almost familiar, like he had seen or felt it before somewhere else.

"Why are you here?" He chooses to speak first, since he didn't have both time and patience for him to wait until he spoke and it had been three good minutes since he arrived there and he hadn't spoken yet.

…

"I asked you: why are you here!?" This time he allowed his voice to show the fact he was losing patience and that he wanted him to answer his question. Still, if he did not wish to do so, he doubted he had the power to force him to talk, so he had to bet on the fact of making him believe he had enough energy left to fight back.

…

"Challenging people with words despite knowing that you're completely out of magical power…I can say that you have matured from some point of view, but that you also haven't changed in other Natsu." He spoke calmly like he was talking with someone he had known for a long time and knew exactly how to deal with said person.

"What do you know about me?" At this point Natsu wanted to know how much he knew about Ruri, but the way he spoke was also making him curious as about who he was and how he could say such things.

"I could make you a small riddle and make you understand by yourselves who I am, but I don't think I have enough time anymore to play around." Saying these words, he took one of sleeves of his shirt and then pulled it back, until his left arm from his hand to his elbow was exposed and what he saw there was a bad scar caused by fire, it was clear that somehow he had his skin scorched by a very powerful fire and then it left that mark.

"I have others similar to this one and you know what caused all of them? A dragon." As he spoke he started to walk as if trying to emphasize his own words.

"Tch, so what, are you trying to justify all of what you have done in the past with the story of your past?" His reply was intended to mock what he said and to remind of him of what he has done, not only to the dragons but also to many other innocent lives.

"The only justification I have for my action is my own life, but as things stand right now, it's already gone and before you ask I'm here to do the only thing I can consider as valuable. In other words, to solve a situation I caused 400 years ago." After that, he stopped and let his words sink into Natsu's consciousness, he wanted to solve the situation he caused? He wanted to solve the situation he created with his own action!? Anger and rage were growing inside of him, but yet, he didn't let them overtake him, his tiredness preventing such thing to happen.

"Do you know what you mean by saying that?"

"I know and if you were to look carefully into this eye of mine, you would also understand why I'm saying such thing." He indicated his only brown eye and the oink haired dragon slayer, choose to do as he said: at this point he had more than one question to be answered and he hoped to get some.

As he stared into that eye, it felt like being brought back into the past, a past he treasured and that had been long gone, but it also brought him back to the day that signed the end of that pace: a night, a house that he knew very well, a sound, fire a shadow in the sky, a dragon and then nothing. His thoughts were confused and another hypothesis was forming into his head, but he didn't believe it, because it was impossible.

"You're wrong, after that night, I didn't die, well at least, not completely, I survived and went forward…and now after four centuries, I wish to make up for what I caused to my two best friends." His words confirmed it and his confusion grew even more, it was something he never dreamed it would happen. At this point, he believed he was living some sort of dream that was also a nightmare, he almost questioned if he hadn't been hallucinating due to the tiredness, but no, he knew it was real and now an old name he had never forgot but at the same time had never hoped to have come to his mind on this way, a name that was very dear to both him and Ruri and that brought them back to good old memories and one of anguish and pain.

'H-Haru…'

"Not really, but somehow yes, I still haven't died."

 **Now, please don't come in the comments and say something like: 'this is bullshit' or similar, because there is a reason why he survived and (SPOILER) in the next two chapters you will understand what happened to him better. So yes, the next two will be about Exitium/Haru's past, this way satisfying those who wanted some more flashback and they won't be the last ones. Hope you enjoyed reading, I did by writing it and I can't wait for when the magic tournament will arrive, because there, a lot of things will change…eheheheh…BUAHAHAHAHAH. Now putting the evil laugh(which I'm not good at, seriously) I hope for your best and see you next time(hoping that it won't be next year…pray that I pass the exam ).**


	6. Chapter 6

**Ok, we have reached 98 followers! I can't believe it, well, I'm very happy that this story is so appreciated because I', putting a lot of effort in it and I wish to continue so, hope you don't get bored of it. Also I finished this chapter sooner than I expected, but it is also true that it is shorter than the previous ones, still I can't make it any longer because there are a few elements that I wish to keep and the way this chapter end is the most appropriate one from my point of view. Also, the next one will probably not be as long as those before this, but once I'm done with the next one, I should have finished another part and from there on, things should start to get really interesting.**

 **-Agony of Life-**

To say that he was surprised would be an understatement, but he also wasn't shocked. Thinking more carefully, there were more than enough facts and elements that confirmed such thing, still, he didn't trust him: time could change people in many ways, he knew such thing because he had witnessed it and it has happened to him. Also, if he was to consider the way that the person in front of him acted during the dragon civil war, then he had more than one reason to not trust him.

Collecting his thoughts as quickly as he could, he recomposed himself and looked at the person he was facing, no matter how hard he tried, the more he looked at him, the more his instinct told him that he was to not be trusted and that he wasn't a friend.

"I know you don't trust me and to be frank even I would but I'm not here to cause you or Ruri any harm."

What he said was true, he didn't trust each and every single word that came out from his mouth and yet, the last sentence he said caught the attention of Natsu.

"Do you know where Ruri is?"

The way he spoke before of her, it was like he knew she was alive and that was more than also may mean that he had some more information about her current status and location. Still, he had to be cautious: it was true that he didn't have any lead nor he knew anything about her location and if he was to consider all the possibility, right now the best option he had was to make him spill out what he knew.

"I know that she's alive and I doubt she has left the continent. Still, I don't know her current location nor if she is in danger of life."

'Umpf…so he doesn't know anything.'

"But I have a lead and I think you already figured it out: Ruri is Acnologia and the best way to find her is to look for any traces of the black mage Zeref, or if you prefer, your older brother."

Hearing this, Natsu stiffened: he didn't expect that he knew about his brother and this fact was an unwelcome surprise. How did he find out this much about him and how did he know about Ruri?

"Well, remember that I lived for four centuries while you were trapped for that same amount of time, so don't be so surprised if I know a few things more than you." As he said these words he made a smile that was very familiar to the pink haired dragon slayer, in the past Haru would smile that way every time he managed to surprise him or Ruri, something that didn't happen too many times.

However, if he really was who he claimed to be or someone else didn't matter that much. There were two things that he was completely sure of: this one was the real Exitium, he had seen him in action before and even now he could smell that stench that he smelled four hundred years ago and second, knowing that he would judge this person basing himself on what he has done as Exitium, because in the past he had seen more than enough to know that the rumours of that time were more than true. Still, he had to also consider the fact he stopped E.N.D. from coming out and saved Yukino's life and if the first of the pair could also not be a decision he made to be kind, the second was much more unlikely to have a second meaning behind, but it didn't change his decision.

Still, the fact he was willingly to talk could also turn to be an advantage for him, because even if he could lie, he could also gain information on him and over time he managed to perceive when someone is lying, but he could still fail and so had to be cautious.

"Then since you're so well informed about me and this world, why don't you tell me what happened to make you become like this?" He had done it, he wasn't an expert in lying nor in deceiving or similar, but still he had his own package of experience about this kind of things.

"Well, it's not a pleasant story nor easy to tell or hear, so fine, but know that my memories of then were a bit confused so…I might have some holes. Still, let's begin…"

 **Flashback: 22th-March-X358**

He couldn't see anything, his eyes closed, but despite the numbness of his mind, he could feel the pain that was all over his body. His body felt like it had been completely broken but yet it still stood together as if to prolong his own torture and not let him die without suffering.

He was cold, his entire body was shivering for the cold he was feeling and despite the fact that the cold of the winter hadn't disappeared, that cold was like his blood had turned into ice and now was spreading to the rest of his flesh. Still, he also felt warm, something was touching his skin and smothering his pain with its kindly warmth and inside him, he could still feel a spark of life that struggled to not slip away. He wasn't dead yet.

Forcing his eyes to open, he didn't see practically anything, the place was clad in what appeared to him as the darkest of the shadows. The air felt heavy and thick, as if attempting to choke him and make him slip in a slumber once more, but he did not want to, he coughed hard and more blood came out from his mouth. He blinked, once, then twice and noticed that the air was filled with smoke. Using his arm, he struggled to sit on the ground and to not lay on it, he wanted to live and he had to get away from there with that little spark of life he still had intact.

He stood up, his legs were shaking and he could barely remain in that position, he moved only a pair of steps and his breath felt cracked, each seconds that passed meant a tormenting agony for him, his entire body was like a single symphony of pain and he could feel his blood spilling out from numerous wounds all over his body: his right arm was paralyzed, his legs could barely move and it was a miracle that his torso was in one piece, one of his eyes wasn't opening and he could feel blood trickling down to that side of face. It was clear to him that his chances of surviving were low and even if he was to survive, he would lose most of his body, yet, his will kept urging him to go forward, to not surrender to this fate and he wasn't going to surrender either.

Still, as he walked forward, he stumbled and fell on the hard rock that was the ground of that place. His breath becoming even more irregular and erratic, he wished to lay down and rest a little, but he knew that he couldn't do it, or the sleep that would come would be eternal. Still, even if he was to venture further in that cave, he wouldn't be able to see that much without a light. He looked back and saw pieces of wood that were still burning brightly while over them dirt had completely closed the hole from which he presumed he had fell, but now it was completely sealed and in his condition it would have been impossible for him to dig until the surface.

However, as he looked at the pile of burning boards, he saw a pair of them that he could use as torch to go and search for another exit. Trying to keep his balance, he walked plodded toward the one that seemed to be in the best condition among them and took it, his life was attached to a very thin string that depended on how strong his will to go forward was and to that torch.

Forcing his legs to move, he made his way toward the depth of that cave in the desperate hope of finding a way out and to heal his wounds. But the more time passed, the less were his hopes to not succumb to the eternal sleep of death with the only company of the shadow of that underground tunnel; he was scared, yes and yet, something inside him was telling him to go forward, that if he proceeded he would live. Thinking about it, he let out a weak laugh as if even he couldn't take himself seriously who still deluded himself with an impossible hope, but he wasn't going to surrender that easily, Natsu and Ruri wouldn't have done that and he wasn't going to delude them, he would keep going until the very last.

However, such thing was easier said than done: his body was on the verge of giving up and the more he moved the faster he would get weaker. He moved each step with fatigue and the pain he felt from his injuries wasn't lessening at all, because it felt more vivid than ever and he was on the verge of passing out.

His left hand kept the improvised torch he got before in front of him while the other hanged motionlessly on his side, the flesh both wounded and scorched by what occurred before, blood dripped down to his fingers and then fell on the ground. His legs weren't in much better condition with clear sign of burnt skin, cuts of all size and form all over them and as he advanced, he left behind small rivers of blood that descended into the shadows of that cave. His only good eye could hardly see anything with the blood that fell from his forehead and the darkness that shrouded everything in the surroundings.

…

…

…

…'nothing'

To him, it seemed almost like he was walking for a very long time, days, if not more, but it must have passed at worst an hour or even less, because the torch he was using to see still had to be burned completely, but it wouldn't take too much time until he wouldn't see anything but black. His eyelid was getting heavier and heavier, threatening to close to never reopen again.

He walked, he walked with his legs staggering, his head was fuzzy and even thinking was becoming hard because of the pain he was feeling. His arms were the worst part of his entire body, he was surprised that they were still attached to his body.

'…how long will I be able to…keep going…'

As he thought this, he felt something scorching his only good hand and by instinct he opened his fingers and dropped the torch: it finally had run out of material. Now the fire was consuming the part that he was holding, rendering the torch useless and slowly the darkness of that place was eating away the few light that had allowed Haru to see.

But now everything was useless: when he let go of the torch, he also lost his balance and his legs had finally given up. He fell on the ground, his body not responding anymore while his mind was numbed by the pain and prevented him from feeling anything other. He laid where he had fell, both his arms now impossible to move while he didn't feel anything from his legs.

He simply rested on that spot, blood slowly coming out from his wounds and forming small rivers that were lost in that cave. His only good eye was fixed on what remained of his only source of light, watching as the flame slowly consumed what little was left of the wooden stick and started to die. A smile of self-deprecation stretched on his blood soaked face, it was a case of pure irony that has lead him up to this point: now that the fire was about to disappear, so was his life, soon enough he would die and it was strange to how similar his situation was to that of the torch; both were at the end of their life and both soon would perish.

He let his head rest and fell behind on a rock, his eye was barely open and looked at the ceiling, but in fact his mind wasn't even registering what he saw, it was like he was already dead inside and now only his heart was the proof he was still living, but soon, even that would cease to beat. His limbs were already as cold as the ice and now the amount of blood he was losing was decreasing, sign that there wasn't that much in his body now.

He waited patiently for the end to arrive with only the sound of the fire dying out as the only as the only other companion over the darkness of that place. He stayed there, motionless…

…

…

…

But he was still there, he wasn't dead and even more strange, he could think straight again. No, it was more correct to say that the pain that numbed his mind until now was gone. But still, as he realized this, he also realized something more: if he looked around him, he could perceive every detail of his surroundings. It wasn't as if he could see in that pitch black darkness, but more like he had been there already and his mind could perfectly place everything in the exact spot it was. He looked around, frenetically and he noticed how his movements were now fluid and quick; he looked at himself, thinking that if this was happening then his wounds must have been healed. But he was wrong, as he looked at his body, he found that all the wounds he had were still present, but the blood loss had lessened until only small droplets of his blood fell on the ground.

As he looked around him, he noticed that even the fire hadn't died, but, it had changed, now its flame had become far darker with small accents of purple and of a dark yellow that almost seemed to come from another world. He stared at it, but he couldn't make sense of everything that was happening, why wasn't he dead and why or how did that fire turned to such unnatural colour. The only possible explanation for him was that he was dead and that place was some kind of limbo, still, his theory was proved wrong the moment he felt cold, it was the cold grip of death that was resuming to advance. He was alive, but…how?

He wondered and asked himself this, but the only thing that may be connected to the answer he was seeking was probably that flame. His eye was fixed on it and as he did this, he watched as the wood was consumed by the fire and then he noticed that there was no ash on the ground, it was as if that fire didn't simply burn the wood, but consumed the very matter until nothing remained. It then touched to cold stone that was the floor of that place and kept burning restless.

Haru didn't move his gaze from that flame and instead focused even more. Because now that the wood had been completely consumed, the fire was now feeding on his blood on the ground and seeing this made him feel uneasy. Still, he kept looking for one more instant and thought about it: at the moment that flame could be said to be acting almost as a living being, doing everything it could to remain alive and right now, it seemed that the only way for it to live was to keep consuming. Seeing this, he came to wonder one thing and slowly that thing became a clear thought.

'Would I do the same…?'

He wasn't sure about it, he had always been kind to the others and had never thought about taking others' lives, but, if by doing this he would keep living, then would he?

As he thought about it, the fire that was his only light kept burning and started to grow, not to the point it was a pillar of fire, but enough to be as big as a small camp fire. He didn't notice it at first but as he did, he chose to kneel and look closely: it was like staring at a small animal that strived to survive while he was dying. Doing it felt both cruel and bitter to him, it was like he was enjoying seeing a living being die.

'Why?'

To his surprise, he was calm, his mind analysing what was occurring and trying to make sense of everything that was occurring and of his thoughts, but yet, he couldn't. It wasn't like he didn't feel like doing it, but more like he couldn't understand anything of his actual situation.

'… _live…'_

He heard it…he hadn't imaged to hear a voice; he was sure he had heard it. It was deep and dark, it sounded almost as a dying whisper or a desperate plead, but still he could hear those words clearly. He looks around, but not with fear, but knowing that the one who talked wasn't around there, but inside his head: the voice he had heard sounded like coming from everywhere and yet, not from that specific place as if there was a barrier separating him from the source of those words and only those immaterial letters could trespass between that wall.

'… _consume…live…'_

Again he heard that voice, it was becoming more and more distant. It was clear that soon it would vanish completely and as this was occurring, he noticed that the pain that was numbing his reason was now returning: slowly, but unstoppable. It was the one that talked to him the reason why he was still alive and why he could think straight right now, if it was to disappear then he would perish soon after and he wanted to live, yes, he wanted to keep breathing, to keep feeling his blood run in his veins and not drip on the cold stone.

' _fire…consume…'_

It was becoming insistent and if it wasn't for the fact that he was on the verge of dying, he would have felt irritated by this. But it wasn't the right moment for such thinking and so he thought about its words: it had said fire and then consume, but, if the first of the two words was clear with its meaning, he felt strange about the second, there was something misplaced.

But still, he would die soon and he didn't see any other option to accept that proposal. He then took a last look at the fire before extending his good hand toward it. At first it seemed to not happen anything, but as he got closer to those flames, he noticed that they were moving toward him, attracted by an imaginary magnet. When his limbs came in contact with it, the fire seemed to recede and lose that dark coloration that made it looks so unnatural and instead a dark mist started to spread on his skin and was slowly being absorbed.

Initially he didn't feel anything, but the more he absorbed that mist, the more the pain he was starting to feel in his arm increased. However, soon that pain spread and his entire body started to feel that same pain: it came at regular intervals of small milliseconds and lasted for the same amount of time, but that small lapse was enough for him to savour the agony of the moment to its fullest, to him, it was almost like he could be able to distinguish each moment through those pulses and after each one, that sufferance spread even more and became more painful, it was truly an agony.

He fell roughly on the ground and that mist didn't stop from entering him, the fire was slowly returning to normal and as such dying out, but still, the more of that substance entered him, the worse he felt: he twisted on the ground, his limbs moving spasmodically and at an irregular pace. In truth, he couldn't even understand why he hadn't passed out yet, before he felt pain when he was in the grip of death, but now, it was pure sufferance and agony: when he felt that pulse, he couldn't even muster to think and only feel, but when he didn't felt it, it was even worse, because it that instant he could taste how sweet it was to not suffer like that and it made him wish that that instant didn't end, he wanted to stop it, to stop those pulses and at that point he couldn't think about anything other, his memories and thoughts didn't exist, there only was the present and his sufferance.

He couldn't bear it any longer and simply letting out small whimpers of pain wasn't enough anymore. He kept twisting and his mouth opened to release a cry that condensed perfectly what he was feeling, he only stopped to scream to take small breath due to the lack of air in his body but the pain was too much even to do such simply act. He felt like drowning, he was surrounded by air, he should simply open his mouth and inhale to feel the refreshing sensation of breathing, but he couldn't he couldn't because his body wasn't responding to it, his arm moved as if trying to grasp the air to take it to his mouth but it was useless, he tried to move even the other one and the agony increased even more, but up to this point, he was starting to not even feel it anymore, he was starting to not feel anything at all. His eye looked frenetically, the pupil seemingly on the verge of popping out while his capillaries had been broken by the sufferance and his veins were turning dark in colour and what looked to be bruises were appearing on his skin. He looked at the ceiling at he felt like being able to see it perfectly despite the complete and utter darkness that had taken over the cave, but he didn't even register such fact and opened his mouth in a desperate attempt to bring air to his lungs, but he failed.

A feeling of hotness that had increased since a small while ago was now becoming unbearable and everything was becoming confused and hazy up to the point he couldn't distinguish anything anymore. His lungs burned with a cold hot fire, his limbs felt cold like they weren't even part of his body but merely pieces of ice, his mind felt like on the verge of implode for the pain while his heart would explode from his chest as his blood would turn the stone around him red.

Finally, his vision darkened and everything turned to the darkest shade of black until he couldn't see nothing and even all the other senses lost their connection to the reality and left their place to a pure sense of complete and void nothingness. He had passed out and let his consciousness leave the reality in search of peace from the agony he experienced, but even if he was to do this, that would only serve as a temporary way to escape from that pain.

…

…

…

'Why…?...'

…

…

A tear came down from his eye and desperation started to take over him: when he noticed his vision darkening, he thought he would finally get some rest from that agony, but he was proved wrong when he noticed how he could still perceive things. His senses were still not functioning and his connection through them to the real world had been cut off the moment his vision was no more, yet, the pain was still there, to remind him of his sufferance and also his mind was awake and functioning. Still what allowed to see the real world around him wasn't his mind alone, but the exhausting pain he felt: he didn't know how it was possible, but it was almost like that sufferance had turned itself into a sixth sense that could allow him to understand his surroundings when his other senses weren't working. It was a true torture to him.

He couldn't rest in peace, it was like something was forcing him to not drift into the comfortability of sleep or unconsciousness and obliged him to stay awake. But why, why was this something doing this, was it the same force that talked to him before when he touched that fire.

…

'… _consume_ _...'_

Here it was again, but the way it talked this time, was even weaker than before and sounded like a weak and dying breath of wind that brought those words from far away, rather than the whisper of something near him.

'… _consume_ _…'_

It hasn't ceased and it was becoming louder and this only helped him to feel even more pain: each time that voice spoke, he felt like his body was being shattered and then quickly rearranged and the worst part was that he couldn't even feel his body anymore, as if he had been reduced nothing more than a spirit. Still, the pain and sufferance that were plaguing him from the moment he had choose to risk everything to keep living told him otherwise.

'… _consume…_ '

At this point it was not a whisper anymore and that voice was becoming louder and louder, arriving almost to the point that even hearing those words hurt him and made him feel like his own ears were bleeding.

'… _CONSUME_ …'

A shout that seemed to work as a blade, made him feel as if he had been pierced from side to side. But as he continued to suffer, something more happened, in his mind information started to gather as if coming from nowhere and if he didn't understand them correctly at first, when he looked at them more accurately, he came to know something that filled him with dread, because they were about what was occurring to him.

He opened his eye and everything was clear: he couldn't feel the pain anymore but he could also feel that it hadn't disappeared, he could see and think clearly but he wasn't sure anymore that he could define them as his own, he was alive, but only for now. The reason behind everything that had happened was due to that dark mist that entered his body and that mist was a small amount of an ancient magic that rested in that cave, an ancient magic that was more powerful than any other he knew and that could alter the reality as no other could, a miracle and a curse at the same time, something that had saved his life but that had consumed many others. A curse that had doomed him until he would die and that had changed something in him forever: before, he was a young boy that had lived in an orphanage with nothing more precious than his two friends. But now, now he had lost everything: his life, his home, his friends and…his humanity.

…

…

His eye looked void of anything on the ground while his mouth was left open as if trying to muster to speak, but failing miserably and instead letting out only small meaningless sounds like those of a fish left dying out of its element.

Finally, his body shook weakly once and then twice, before a cry filled with anguish and despair came out of his mouth and echoed all over that cave and even deeper, losing itself in the shadow and darkness that shrouded every place and corner that was connected to his actual location. If someone was to hear that scream, then, they would define it as the desperate cry of agony of a monster like no other one, but instead, it was just a boy that had come across the only thing that could save his life but that costed him his everything.

 **I also have to mention that I will stop for a small while, just the time I need to keep up another of my four story and also, this year I will have the exam to finish my high school so please be patient it is already hard for me as it is. Last note and SPOILER: once I'm done with the next chapter, which will also be in a small part about Haru's past, I will talk again about Ruri and Yukino will not be seen for some chapters, but she will have an important role in the future, together with other mages other than the trio that are Natsu, Ruri and Exitium. So see you next time.**


	7. Chapter 7

**First and foremost: sorry for having not uploaded in so much time, but, I'm currently working on a few projects of my own and I finished the exam that ended my career as a high school student last month, so please be merciful. Now, I do hope that these kind of chapters aren't boring to you all, but if you wish for a fight then you will have to wait a bit longer, because first, I need to set everything in place, before I can begin. So see you at the end.**

 **-Chained Hate and Regret-**

 **22th-March-X358**

…

…

Silence was the only thing that he could hear, his breath so weak that it almost didn't exist, yet, he could see small clouds of condensed air forming and dissolving in front of him each time his lungs released his breath and took in new air. But, even if such thing was clear to anyone, his eyes didn't see it, they refused to see it just as much as they refused to see anything else.

He kept walking forward, not stopping despite how damaged his own body is, his head casted down, hiding the look of complete exhaustion on it. His legs were also in poor condition with numerous wounds still visible and open, but didn't bleed, his right arm dangled on his side, its condition far worse than any other part of his body together with his eye on the same side of the face.

He walked forward with a ghostly peace of someone that didn't even know why he was still standing and was not buried in the ground with death having taken possession of his body.

The air was cold and filled with humidity, yet he didn't seem to mind it nor he noticed the fact that little by little, the stench of that closed place has begun to dissipate. Replaced with a colder and more bitter air, tickling his own wounds like a cloud of invisible small insects aiming to irritate him. Yet, he didn't take notice of it, despair clear in each of his breaths and steps.

Small rays of a pale and weak light showed the path that he has been following and leading him toward the exit like a moth following the light of a candle. The air becoming fresh and almost tasty but mixing with a stench of death and fire; causing his dead eyes to look up as to understand the source. Time didn't exist and he wasn't aware of how long he strived desperately as to survive, but the moon is dominating the sky and the stars shining on the same dark background provides a perfect portray that most people would wish to appreciate it by taking their time and to savour it until they would be satisfied. But such perfect scenario has a single element that seems to ruin everything of that delicate composition: a black cloud of thick smoke, rising into the distance and obscuring the lights of the sky and slowly dissolving.

Grass and earth takes the place of the cold stone that filled that cave, dark coloured trees surround the exit as their forms rise high from the ground with their branches giving them the form of blades piercing the earth, rising toward the sky and hiding parts of the landscape that is possible to see from there. The ground descends in front of him and rise behind his back. He's standing on a cliff or something similar, but not on a mountain, he remembers that around the capital he never saw any and he was sure of one thing, that black cloud rising to hide the lights of the night is the one of the fire that is consuming his house and killing those few people that he cared.

Letting his knees fall on the ground few tears descended from his only good eye and fell silently, leaving him alone with his pain and despair. Small gusts of wind cause the surrounding flora to whistle, creating a natural orchestra to commemorate that silence, main subject of such composition. A silence filled with nothing more than the sufferance of someone that chose to live and gave away everything else.

Suddenly, the wind started to slowly grow in strength, managing to cause some branches to fall on the ground, yet, he doesn't show any interest or react in any way and instead remains motionless. A shadow flew in the sky and slowly approached the ground, bringing with him the sound of massive wings flapping. Slowly, but steadily that figure descended upon the clearing that was out of the cave, a pair of glowing reptile like eyes staring at the figure with disgust and pity, mocking his own existence as a living being, its sharp teeth showing themselves and forming a scowl.

Finally, the wings stopped moving, the wind caused by them that was testing the tree's resistance ends, giving them the possibility to rest. But now, that figure is more imposing than ever, standing proudly on the ground and looking from his high position down below. His pupils stared at him as if trying to understand why he was here, but soon lose interest and a single finger started to move before sending Haru flying against a tree. His body acted almost like a broken doll, not posing the slightest resistance and falling on the ground motionlessly after the impact.

Most of his bones broken and he probably has an internal haemorrhage, yet, even if the pain should be so strong in this situation as to prevent him from thinking, to him it felt surreal almost like it was not his own. With a grunt of pain and annoyance, he managed to bring himself in a sitting position with his back resting on a tree, the same desperation of before still clear in his eye, deprived of any will to keep living or fight against his death.

"Ahah…it appears that you have already given up on living."

His voice was deep and hoarse, but from the tone it appeared that the dragon is having fun in watching his despair. A cruel light is present in its eyes as it stared down at the small body that is laying on the ground, a disturbing smirk of satisfaction for the sufferance inflicted is formed by its teeth, still, his state didn't satisfy its own malevolence and cause curiosity to grow. That human was already in a bad shape but now after the hit he received, he should be at the death's door, still, he seemed almost oblivious of his sufferance and even stranger, there was no blood on the ground but his wounds were clearly open so why wasn't he dead? This little man was making its interest grow.

"Hm, I wonder why you don't bleed, are you a mage or do you have something special about you?"

A mage, hearing this almost caused him to laugh at how absurd such theory was. He was nothing more than a normal orphan with only a pair of good friends and with a good sense of irony but which can sometimes be out of place, he wasn't special at all and yet, here he was, not spilling any blood, nor he has passed out due to the pain that he should be able to feel. The reason: because he wanted to live and because of this wish, he cursed himself forever. This may be the only true special thing about him, but it was something he didn't wish for, did he?

"You know, I'm kinda hungry after having breathed fire over your other little friend. I think I will eat you as an appetizer and then will eat some more."

A claw twice as large as him extended and took him from the collar, rising his figure toward a large mouth filled with sharp teeth that could easily pierce iron and steel of any sort. But, again, he refuses to react or look at the figure that was about to devour him. Then, something came to his mind: that dragon was the one who breathed fire before, it was the one responsible for destroying his house, for having buried under a grave of scorched wood, ash and fire the only family he had known. It was this dragon's whim that doomed hundred or even more people to die, what it did was by its own volition and he doubted that the reasons behind those acts are deep or have some kind of hidden meaning, no, no, it was all fuelled by an egoistic desire of his. Why, why was this creature allowed to keep living while acting as it wanted and numerous other people that did nothing wrong but tried to live peacefully were to die to satisfy its will, who gave this dragon the right to act as such and who forced the other to die.

" _..._ _consume_ _…"_

…

"… _consume it…_ "

Again, that voice talked to him and urged him to consume. Before he didn't understand what it meant, but now, after what he saw, he knew what it wanted, what it thirsted and strived for and why it wanted it. His desperation slowly disappearing and changing, fuelling another emotion that he never truly felt before, but now, it grew, like a wildfire, spreading and consuming everything and wishing for more, he could stop it from growing more, from consuming everything, but he didn't wish to do it. He chose to live and wanted to live, he hated the one in front of him and wished for it to die and so, he would hate…he would let his malice grow and consume, while he would stand at the centre of the fire and would spread it over anything until he would be satisfied and then nothing inside him would remain but a black void deprived of anything. He already has forsaken everything in exchange for his life and now nothing remained but this hate toward everything and he knew that it was his own, not of that voice, nor it was forced inside him, it was a long forgotten hatred that remained asleep for a long time, a malice directed toward the creatures responsible for the sufferance and grief of this age: the dragons and right in front of him was one that belonged to the worst species. Well, now, it was a good time to not refrain his emotions.

A wicked smile spreads on his battered face and the air around him seemed to comply with the change in his decision, he would live at any cost, he would live and keep living, he damned himself to this purpose and he wasn't going to waste it.

Sensing the changes, the instinct of the dragon took over, letting the boy's body fall on the ground while backing away, a sense of dread creeping on it and screaming to run from that being, telling it that what was standing there is not a human but something far worse, something that calling an abomination would result to be an understatement. Still, his sense of pride didn't allow to back away from there, from a mere boy who was about to die.

"You should have fled when you could."

A sinister voice reached its hears, the silhouette of that child standing up and walking toward it with a calm peace that resembled that of a predator approaching a cornered prey that was about to meet its end. A new emotion grew inside of its mind, one that even a dragon king could not cause, a sense of utter powerlessness and of complete oblivion.

'What…what is this kid…?'

"Oooh, trust me, I'm a nightmare for all living beings and for all of the existence."

Blood started to gouge out of some of his wounds, the pain finally becoming more real and sharpening his sense while gifting him with a new one that seemed to urge him to feed and to bring death. A new power started to course through him, his blood slowly turning into a black miasma that corrupted and devoured anything around it while forcing his wounds to disappear but leaving behind clear scars, some of which would may disappear with time, but a few will always remain. He felt pain once more, but different from the normal one, this coming not from his wounds, but from the power that had started to course inside him: it was forcing him to change, not only physically, but even mentally, and he was having a hard time not to lose himself. He may have decided to live with this curse, but he would not let something other than himself control his life, he would decide for himself and live for his own sake.

A cry of anguish and hate is born from his mouth, all his wounds gone, his broken arm ready to be used, the other covered completely by the same black miasma that is pouring down from his body and his dead eye, perfectly healed but changed from the soothing and gentle dark brown to a dark cold purple that radiated only malice and promised a pact of ruin.

The dragon stared in fear and terror, but, let out a powerful roar and took position as to fight, his mouth ready to fire a beam of fire to consume that small being, but before it could even register what happened, something pierced its left eye. A cry of pain resounded in the surroundings while he reared back his head and felt that strange dark matter eagerly devouring flesh and bones, his magic and his soul, tearing each one apart and then tasting how sweet their flavour was only to wish for more, to thirst for more to eat and to consume. This was the meaning of what that voice told him, to 'consume', to consume everything that is alive and everything that existed, to strive in order to eat and to devour, this power was hungry and filled with hate and so he was and now he won't stop.

What seemed to resemble some kind of wicked spear was sprouting out from where the dragon's left eye was and was slowly descending down, spreading that plague while also causing sufferance to that creature.

The dragon released one more cry, before it looked at him with hate and rage, its glowing blue eye glaring at his figure before releasing a stream of flames that engulfed everything on its path but failed to even scratch him once it reached his position. The miasma devouring every bit of magic residing in that fire and consuming everything else near as to satisfy an endless hunger.

The stream stopped for a second before the dragon let out one more roar and extended its wings as to fly away, but just as it managed to gain a few meters of altitude, the spear in its eye pulsed again and caused it to scream and fell to the ground, a small cloud of dust rising from where he landed while its breath became ragged and irregular, its only good eye glaring at the approaching figure of the one that disgraced it.

"What…what are…you…?"

Hearing such question caused the appearance of that wicked and disturbing smile on his face once more: this time the dragon didn't ask for his identity, but for 'what he is' as if pointing out the fact that he didn't recognise him as an individual, but as something far worse than that and to him was fine, after all, he chose to give up everything that he was. He didn't answer and instead gestured to the miasma already present on its body making it spread even more and causing the dragon to pass out for the agony. He didn't want to die, no, he will consume its body until there will be nothing left and will engrave such sufferance and despair into its very soul, so that even if it will remain, the scar caused by him will never disappear: an eternal curse, just like him but more merciful from his point of view.

Letting out a sigh, he glanced at the body of its first prey: the dragon had a slim and long figure, but large enough that it wouldn't be too hard for it to destroy the castle's walls with just its body's weight. The creature was covered with ash coloured scales on the upper body while the belly and underside of the neck were of a soft light magma like shade. Its only eye was still open and appeard to be small compared to the triangular and pointed head ending with small horns slightly longer than his arm. It had only two large wings with claws big enough to operate perfectly as hands, the membranes were split into six small sections and having a deeper shade of colour than the belly. Numerous spines and thick scales covered its back, almost reaching the end of the long and slim tail, while the underbelly appeared to be much softer and weak. As for the two remaining limbs, both had four fingers with sharp black claws and with a form similar to that of a bird, but more massive and with a sharper look.

A magnificent creature for some and something to fear for many, but at the end, a living and breathing being, thus capable of dying and this one was the first of many to come that would turn into his own meal as to satisfy his hate. The miasma was spreading quickly, and consuming everything in its state of hunger, he then stared at the hand covered by that same black substance and then at the other one, which was perfectly clean of anything but still beared the scar of the scorching fire that almost killed him. A look of sadness comes to his eyes, memories of his past flowing like a river as few tears poured down from his brown eye just by bringing them back, he wasn't capable of returning to his previous life, his hands were stained with a starving wish to consume and his heart has nothing to offer but hate, his friends may be alive, he hoped so, but at the same time parts of him wished for their death, so that he may not cause them harm or they may not see what he has become. He wasn't the same boy of the orphanage, his past was part of him, but didn't belong to the present, the path in front of him was filled with only a dark mist that shrouded everything in a cold and deadly embrace. Haru, died that night when he tried to live and stubbornly choose to not accept death. However, when he chose to continue to live, he wasn't his past self anymore, no he had been changed by his hate and by the one behind that voice. A new name came to his mind and clear like the dawn that was approaching: a silent promise of what it will bring and of what it will be of everything on his path.

He looks in the distance with a sense of nostalgia caused by his memories, of his house, of his friends, but it slowly disappeared and was swallowed until nothing remained. He turns his back to that landscape and take one last look at the dragon's body: most of it was covered by the black miasma that he forced on it and very few parts weren't touched by it, but it's clear that he will die. Its only eye looked at him, disgust, fear, terror, rage and despair can be seen in that pupil as it died. He looked at it in return with a glare of complete nothingness, like he was staring at a void space, but then a malevolent smile makes its way to his lips as he observed those emotions swirled in that creature's eye and one word is whispered to that dying dragon, one that his kind knows well enough and fear what it brought with it: Exitium.

With that said, the boy walked away from the soon to be corpse and away from where he spent the previous years of his life. A smirk of self-deprecation and of malevolence never leaving his face as he headed toward his next destination to keep living.

 **(end of flashback)**

 **6th-June-X784**

Natsu isn't exactly surprised to hear this story, he suspected that it would be impossible for a normal person to survive a fire like the one that burned down their old home. He may have been able to make it out, but only because of the fact that he wasn't a normal human anymore and even so, he wouldn't come out be unscathed. As about the credibility of his story, that is something he can trust only on the base of his own judgment: he had watched every and all of his movements, never stopping to look into his eyes and he never saw the slightest trace of lie during all of the narration. He may have been vague on some parts, but it never reached the point in which he suspected his words, still, he can't trust him: it may be true that he ended up in this condition due to his will to not die, but at the end it was him who decided to live and even if he was happy that his friend survived that night, the price seemed to have changed him completely. But, on this point he can't blame him, after all the same can be said for him. In the end both of them ended up changing deeply after that single night of over 400 years ago, both tainted with hatred, but different from each other for one simple fact: Natsu didn't face what occurred after that alone and he choose not only to hate, but also to protect Ruri; as for Haru, he chose to embrace only his hate and to leave behind nothing else while struggling to live on, a fate that the pink haired dragon slayer pitied and didn't envy, yet, this wasn't enough as to justify everything he did nor the monster he has become. Ironic how he is judging him when he himself has a monster inside him, ready to take over anytime and to destroy everything. A sad smile forms on his face at this thought, it really sounds like a bad joke that someone created in an attempt to satisfy whim of his own that came and disappeared as nothing.

"Yes, it isn't good in any way. But, at least you two didn't end up not confessing to each other."

Hearing him talk like this brought memories back, of before everything was thrown into chaos and the three of them started to lose and lose. Still, he can't let his guard down, he has experienced human's nature far too many times and even if the he is not human, he can be even more treacherous and cruel. His eyes become sharp and the air around him return to be the one of when he is face to face with an enemy and yet, he feels like there is part of his old friend buried within the one in front of him.

"I would rather not indulge too much on the past and focus on the present. Why do you want to help us?"

A flash of regret and sadness appears in his eyes as these words leave his mouth and the air around him seems to change in a negative way, but not descending into one of hostility. He starts to walk as he stands up and his fingers play with the same leaf as before in a more frenetic way, showing his own turmoil.

"You're right to suspect me, anyone with some brain would do it, but this time, my intention is to say sorry to you two. After all, neither of us said a proper goodbye to the other."

A sad smile can be seen as he says those words, but he can sense that there is something more behind that gesture than what his words say, but it feels more like what he is hiding is something that hurts more him than Natsu and this doesn't feel good for him in any way.

He stares at him, but he doesn't understand what it is: one of his eye look at him with a mix of cold hatred that clash with a sense of concern and worry, the other instead is the just as he remembered, a soft brown that shows a gentle and introverted person but who cares deeply for his friends but changed. A person with odd eyes and who seems to also have a conflict taking place inside of him between two parts. Sighing in resignation as he could not understand clearly what to think of him, he closes his eyes as his head turns toward the sky still painted with the colour of the sun's light.

"Then, give me a reason because I should trust you."

As he said those words, his arm gestured for him to talk and give him something which can help him decide. Again, a smile of irony and sadness is shown.

"I have none, other than the fact I am talking with you without lies and the fact that for me it's already late."

At these words, one of his eyebrows rises but something inside of him has already understood the meaning of what he said.

"So…let me get this straight: after you spent years to slaughter and destroy to live on, you are now on the death's door, again?"

A laugh echoes around, only to die few moments later, leaving behind nothing but an echo that is lost in the woods and which bring both resignation and sadness with it.

"Guess that after all the lives I've taken away, it's my turn to see what awaits me once I will cease to breath."

"And why's that?"

Surprisingly, Natsu does not wait to observe the other one, but instead prefers to talk back immediately, almost as if there is now a sense of impatience in the way he acts.

"You can say that my contract to live on is coming to an end."

'He doesn't wish to make this easier in any possible way.'

At least this trait of him has not changed over time.

"It would be easier for me to understand what you mean if you were to talk normally and not through riddles."

His own annoyance is clear in how he speaks, but it isn't a negative one, but rather, it's more like the irritation of someone who is wish to get the answer he seeks but who is also kind of enjoying the 'game'.

"Aaas you wish. But this time, I stated the simple truth and did not use any kind of 'riddle'."

The slayer's eyes roll in their orbits at how he talks. No matter how he puts it, it is clear and evident that he's still hiding something, but he also knows that he's truly not lying about the intentions he stated, but he can't be sure if there are any more hidden reasons.

'Aaaaah, fine…'

He gives up, he finally gives up, he still doesn't trust him completely but for now, he will watch his back and him. Form his point of view, Exitium or Haru, at this point, even he is confused as about who he really is, has more knowledge about how things changed than him and most important: he knows about Ruri. For him, it is worth the risk to listen to what he says and maybe even to go with him.

"Then, tell me, what is your plan to find Ruri?"

"I have none. But I think it would be best if we were to look for her together. Especially since I have a bit more of knowledge of what happened in the past 400 years and also we should be able to easily pick up traces of her presence if we come across her or a place where she passed by."

Hearing the first line, it feels like he is making fun of him, but, he is right about the second part of his speech: having him on his side would be much better than to know that he's around and can destroy anything any time and if Ruri is really Acnologia, then it's most likely that he knows more about her condition. Still, he will have to be careful around him and most important: he can't let Yukino near him. He isn't naïve and he knows that if she will come with him, she will be exposed to the threat of both Exitium and Zeref. Moreover, he doubts that the first of the two will allow her to come with them, despite knowing it already, he can't argue on the fact it's the most logical decision. Still, he feels that it's not the right thing to do: she has already suffered more than enough and once more she will be left alone, without anyone. Life truly is cruel, he is cruel: on one side, he can decide to stay with his apprentice and keep looking for Ruri, but he doubts that this will help him in his search and also he isn't as foolish as to ask to the person in front of him to tell him of everything that occurred during these four centuries. Moreover, he would also need to be on guard about Zeref, he can't know when and where he will reappear, nor what he will do. On the other hand, he can also choose to leave her behind and to go looking for the person he loves the most with his former friend and enemy, increasing the chances to find her, but leaving alone a little girl that already lost her house and family.

In one case, he would be cruel with Ruri, in the other one, he would be the same with Yukino. He sits down on a nearby rock, the gaze of Exitiium fixed on him, imaging what is going inside his head and waiting for him to decide while choosing to not interfere. Both Natsu's hand clutches his head as he shakes it in a negative way: he can't decide at all. Both of them would understand his intentions and tell him to help the other, but at the same time, both would feel sorrow and grief growing in them, knowing that he didn't choose to help one of the two.

'Why…why does life has to be so merciless…'

As far as he can remember, life has never been kind with him: every time he gained something dear to him, something he cared for, that something was taken away from him, destroyed and rendered impossible to recover or repair. So it was when that dragon burned down the orphanage and killed those that welcomed him as family, then it was the turn of Cormeum who died in the same way and of many other he came to know that were either killed or perished due to how cruel life was. After that, one more event deprived him of what little remained from going insane, but this time, fate found an even more cruel way to torture him: his best friend, the one he thought dead, controlled him and forced him to slaughter everything in sight, hurt the person he loved and then when it seemed all over, the demon inside him forced Ruri to protect him by sealing him away. And now, in the end, he is forced to take a decision he can't bear.

He looks at his hands and he seems to be able to see all the blood and death that those limbs caused and brought upon much more lives than stained his own soul more and more, no matter how one may see it: if someone kills another one, then the one that will live on, is the worst of the two and the reason for this is simple, because that person will be allowed to kill even more. This is what he thinks of himself and of most other people that decide to take away a live, not everyone is as such, but to him, the act of killing is something that will often start a never ending chain of sufferance and hatred.

His lips curls into a smile of desperation before looking at the figure of the only other being present there. He understands. He understands why he choose to stain himself, even he did the same many and many times over, both seems to be addicted to kill, not because they wish so, but because it seems that some sort of wicked will wants to force them to decide on either their lives or those of the others.

Desperation grips his very soul while a mix of rage and sufferance seems on the verge of bursting out of him and to unleash its destructive energy upon everything else. Life had never been kind with either of them and when it was, it did so only to cause even greater sufferance and to make them addicted to the sweet taste of those moments, so that they would wish to have more of them and would drown into their desperation even more. This, is why they strive so hard to live on, this is the reason behind all of their actions and yet, he asks himself: does he have the strength to forsaken all of this and end everything? The more he thinks of this, the more he realizes that he can't muster the strength to end his life, all because hope still lives within him and he won't let go of it for now, no there is something inside him that doesn't want to let it go that something is the only thing he will never be able to hurt voluntarily.

"I haven't seen a sunset this beautiful in quite some time."

Those words bring him back to the real world and make him notice that his interlocutor is right next to him, gazing at the setting star that is gently grazing the horizon. Its soft colours painting the sky with red, yellow and a hint of pink that melts into purple, where it meets the night sky. Stars starts to shine on a dark curtain of a deep blue that turn into black at some point with the silhouette of a sphere slowly becoming more vivid and radiating a sliver cold light, which will dominate the scenario once the blazing star has disappeared. A perfect balance between light and a gentle darkness that wish to lull those that lives into a peaceful sleep and to hide those that wants to not be seen. But at the end a symbol of end and beginning, one which can bring both destruction and ruin and dreams of something more than this. He watches this scenario with eyes and is captive by how ironic it is to him: a perfect balance that is one the verge of collapsing and a sky filled with light that slowly recedes and leaves only one filled with blackness and small lights that seems to be on the verge of being swallowed by the darkness in which they shine. A picture of how things went for him; life can be truly ironic at time.

A dead laugh erupts from his mouth as tears deprived of any meaning and emotions comes out of his closed eyes and rule his face. This, all of this, all of his live…no, all of their lives are the greatest comedy and tragedy that someone ever crafted. Very well, either way, he will regret what he decides now, so, at least, it's better to keep those that are not involved in this tragedy out of its plot. He can't bring himself to see Yukino be involved into this mess, nor he would be able to see her corpse killed by his decision: he is a miserable person.

"Watching this sunset has reminded something: back then, when the dragon civil war started, no, even before, when those dragons started to prey for their amusement on humans, they gave birth to an endless chain of hate…'sigh'…Everyone thought that it all ended with the war but they are wrong, aren't they?"

As he speaks, he glances at his old friend with a look that mixes resignation and amusement. The other replies with a desperate smile of his own as he looks at him and then back on the horizon: the sun has almost disappeared, but his own light died out a long time ago.

"Those that still has memories of that time are the bearers of that chain. All of us still bear it and it is impossible to be truly free, not until the source of the hatred isn't destroyed or the one that purse it die or decide to give up. But neither of us is willingly to do so."

"You're right…our past is our own curse. None of us can forget what we did and why we acted like that."

Silence falls on both of them as they're eyes watches the setting sphere of fire slowly disappear from the sky, leaving a darkness interrupted by small lights and by the cold figure of the moon. The pink haired slayer aims his gaze to that spectacle and then sighs, he hasn't forgot who is standing next to him, but for this once, he let his guard down and simply enjoy the moment not with the person that forced him to live like this, but with his old friend Haru. A sigh escapes from his mouth as he speaks without any kind of filter or without being wary of how he talks, a sensation he hasn't felt in a long time.

"I will come with you, it may be selfish, but I do not wish for her to be caught by the chain of hate which binds both of us."

The other simply answers with a nod as both his odd eyes stare at him. Again, the feeling coming from each pupil is completely different from the other: the purple one filled with nothing but a coldness that seems to freeze everything that enters its field of vision. The other one gives a feeling of comfort and affection, like a small campfire during a night in a wasteland, where the only other presences are the shadows of those that hides from the eyes.

"You have until dawn; I will wait around here."

He walks away without looking back: his pace quick and swift, brings him back in town in no time. He spent a few hours talking with him, but only at the very end, he let his guard down, wishing to enjoy a moment with a friend like how he did when he was still a child and with a mix of despair and resignation, he accepted the fact that his old friend may be dead and what remained was only a murder of the worst species. He truly is pitiful.

The lights of the streets dispel the shadows of the night as the noise of the nocturnal life starts to begin: the place itself is not a big one, but nor it is abandoned to itself and it seems like during night, it is more lively than before. How unusual, this isn't the first time that he sees this kind of scene, but it still feels terribly unnatural to him. Back when dragons weren't considered extinct, he remembers that every city tried to blend in the darkness of the night as much as possible in order to avoid the raid of those winged creature. Certainly, it was impossible for large city like Crocus to do so, but still, small villages and town could easily achieve it. However, dragons weren't feared only for their powerful magic, but also for their sheer power and strength: all of their senses were far more developed than those of humans and so, there were times that even if one tried to hide, it was impossible to escape from them. It was a time in which fear spread wider than fire and for a good reason and even if the dragons were to not be feared, most towns and villages were always isolated from the rest of the world and rarely held festivity of any sort. After four centuries, the situation had changed drastically: now it was rare to find a place that could be similar to the one he was used to and at night, many of these locations fills with life and joy that can surpass that of the day.

The world really changed, both in a good way and in a negative one: he looks around and luckily enough it appears that for now there are no threat around here. During the months that passed after he came to this time, he noticed that humans didn't change completely and some of them got even worse: with the formation of the guilds, dark guilds also started to appear and if the first are a good way for wizard to gather together and live, the second is similar but opposite in nature. Dark guilds are formed by mages that do not wish to follow the law and who are more interested in pursuing goals that are often linked to dark magic. Still, even this kind of things aren't the worst from Natsu's point of view, no, the worst kind of human beings are those fools that worship Zeref and aim to bring him back. Well, it can't be helped, the information about the history of four hundred years ago is unknown by most people and even those few that are aware of it, knows only part of the truth that was lost. No records of Ruri, of the truth about the first dragon slayers, of the dragon civil war and of the existence of Exitium seems to have reached this era. Their story lost within time itself, but he thinks it's for the best. Forgetting is never a good thing from his point of view, but just by the fact that the legacy of Zeref reached this era, makes him think that the history of that period is better to be sealed away, so that the future generations will not try to bring the demons of the past back to life. At the same time, he can't say this thing for sure, because if to some such knowledge is something to imitate, to others is a warning of what they must not imitate of the sin of the past, of errors that mustn't be repeated. However, at the very end, it is all up to people to either choose what to do and how to act, he can't do anything to stop them from choosing a road instead of the other, but still, he can stop them from causing more damage if he has the chance.

As he walks, he finally reaches the inn where they were resting and heads inside without a second thought, yet, as he enters, his steps seem to weaken and his legs wish to not move any further, still he pushes them to comply with what he wishes to do, or at least, part of him. No matter how much he tries to convince himself, he still can't forgive what he is about to do, but at the same time, he can't forgive the fact of knowing to how much dangers the young girl would be exposed to if she were to follow him. No, he doesn't wish to bring another innocent inside of this seemingly endless spiral of agony and sufferance, those that form it already are more than enough and each of them has suffered more than what a normal person would be exposed to in a single live, but, after all, they all lived for more than any other humans has ever done and time wasn't merciful with none of them and he doubts it will change that much in the future. Still, he can't get rid of this conviction of his that leaving Yukino isn't the right thing to do, but then, what should he do?

It's in situation like this that he would want to have someone he can talk with and discuss of this choice, of what he should do and of how he should act. His steps resound dully on the pavement of wood, no greeting or word is spoken to him as he walks up the stair that leads to where the room he took is and where Yukino is probably still sleeping; or so he hopes, he doesn't know if he can tell her directly what he is about to do. The best way to deal with this kind of situation is to leave a letter and explain her only a part of the truth, is she were to know all of it, then, he already knows what she would do. At the same time, he does not wish to face her because, he doubts he would be able to tell her the fact they need to part from each other, still, he hopes that this decision is the best one between the decisions he can take about this situation. He really hopes so.

As the stairs come to an end, he starts to be even more careful with each of his steps, fearing that he might wake her up or cause unnecessary noise. With each movement if his legs, he feels like being on the edge of an abyss and that he is about to fall down from where he barely stands. He is nervous, much more than he's been in a long time, the only other occasions in which he felt like this were almost all connected to Ruri.

'Hehe, this situation seems to be a true paradox...'

Indeed, so it seems, considering that he's about to leave behind the only apprentice he has ever had and the only person he can truly trust that he has met so far and the sensation that this decision is causing, is the same as of when he tried to speak about something personal with Ruri, the one that can almost be considered at fault for this turn of events. Still, in the end, this is only his decision and his alone; the fact that his former friend is what convinced him to do so is also to be included, but then, he's not at fault in this situation, because he could have refused, but he didn't and so, he will shoulder the burden of this decision by himself.

The door is pushed open by his hand and such is the tension that even the creaking sound of its hinges seems to be too loud and capable of awakening all the guests of the inn. But luckily, it's just his imagination: as he enters the room, he is extremely careful with each steps, the wooden boards on the pavement not being in top condition and his own nervousness being the main cause of this behaviour. Still, as his eyes looks in the direction of the bed, he sees what he had hoped up till now: a sleeping young girl with light blue hair and a relaxed expression on her face peacefully sleeping. She does not appear to be having a nightmare, her face not showing anything like anxiety or fear, but, at the same time, it is blank, like a canvas that still needs to be painted and making almost impossible to decrypt what is happening inside her mind. However, he can't help but feel at ease: she was on the verge of dying just a few hours ago, but now, she seems to be perfectly fine. Still, the fact she hasn't woken up yet, proves how much she risked her life and just how much of her own life energy that spell managed to drain out of her. If she had been hit, directly, then, she would have died without a doubt. At least he's relieved that it isn't so.

He watches her peaceful face with the smile of someone who's relieved by the current state of things and he's not wrong to be. But then, that smile change, becoming bitter and sad: he knows that he will most likely not meet her anytime soon and maybe never again, he is aware of the fact that all of this is happening only because of his own selfishness and she will never truly forgive him for what he's about to do. Yet, he feels that it doesn't truly matter if she will hate him, true, he will never forgive himself for his actions, nor he will pretend that she does, his only hope, is that she will be able to live better than now and that in the future she will not choose the same path that damned him and the others like him.

Thinking this and with a hand that seemed to not want to write those lines, almost like opining that without the letter, he wouldn't abandon her, he put into written words what he can't tell her by himself. She's someone that he doesn't wish to involve in the inferno that is his life and most of all, he doesn't wish to force her to share the consequences of a past old of four hundred years. However, he also is aware that there are other options that may be better than the choice he has taken, but he can't possibly see them.

As he thinks this, his hand keeps writing on the paper on the small desk table that is present inside the room with a feverish rhythm the sound of the pen he's using to write almost sounding like a strange music that lightly breaks the silence inside that small place that make everything seem so unreal, like it is all but a mere illusion.

'How I wish it was like this.'

A laugh of derision almost leaves his lips as he finishes to write down the letter that is his farewell to his apprentice, the words of a coward he thinks and of someone too weak to apology by speaking face to face. He glances at her sleeping form as a smile mixed with self-disdain and affection forms on his face, he will miss everything of this short period of time, of the way she asked him to teach her, of how she got excited every time the finished a request, of how he and her lived. He will miss all of it.

He stands up and walks toward the door, a sachet containing all of the gold the managed to gather in the past few months is next to the letter. He will leave all of it to her, surely she will be able to use it properly and she will need it more than him, he can easily hunt for the food he needs and sleeping on the ground has never been a problem for him, but she isn't like him, he doesn't want her to be like him. He walks out, his steps now heavy and bringing a clear sense of sadness with them: he feels tired, tired and heartbroken. His mind is in the midst of a storm, his thoughts seemingly confused and blurry, but he pushes forward, he has to: in the past, he took hard decision, but none was as hard as this and none left him such a bitter taste, yet, he knows one thing for sure, he can't let despair prevail over him. Decisions are never easy to take, he knows this perfectly, but still, he always forget this, or rather, he refuses to remember until that moment arrives. Now it is here again, reminding him that nothing lasts forever and that no matter how much time passes, his own existence seems to be a curse both for him and for those dear to him, so, at least, he will stay with someone who is as much of a living curse as him.

He walks with clear and quick steps, wishing to end this as soon as possible, but never losing the atmosphere of sadness that comes from his own choice. His distress clear in his black onyx eyes. He walks out of the inn, no one seemingly noticing him or choosing to ignore his presence, not wishing to meddle with whatever caused him such sufferance. He ignores it, he ignores everything: the light of the city, the sounds of people speaking with each other and the lively atmosphere of the town. All these things seem to be completely averse to him and impossible to truly experience. Maybe in the past he had a chance to choose such simple life, but be it for his own decisions or for a fate that he couldn't prevent, he ended up living such hell and now, he can only comply with it.

He soon reaches the outskirt of the small city and there, he finds him: his figure standing up without showing any sign of tiredness in the shadows casted by the night sky just outside the reach of the lights of the town. Both his odd eyes staring at him without any kind of emotions or any particular feeling in them, just waiting patiently for an answer from him. He just nods, the oppression of his choice never leaving him. They don't need words, they already know what they have to, both knows each other well enough to understand what the other thinks, or so is for the one with dual eyes, the other instead, doesn't understand what to think about him, about what is passing through his mind: he thought him dead until few hours ago and he did after that incident, both changed very much from how they were when they were kids, life hadn't been merciful with either of them, but still, between the two of them, he is the one that changed the most. If he thinks back to when he met him on the battlefield, he saw in him nothing more than a killer, someone who wished nothing more than to destroy and kill, yet something in him told him that he did that with a precise aim, but whatever that aim was, he couldn't forgive him for all the ruin he brought. But now that he looks at him, he doesn't really know what to think: part of him still bears a strong hate for his past actions, but he also sees his old friend, scarred and changed for the worse, but still, a friend he thought dead, but is instead lost, like him.

They walk, leaving behind the liveliness of the city behind and deciding that they need to walk as to clear their own thoughts. Both needs to talk and both wish to just enjoy the company of each other after so long. Time is short for one and the other has to fight with the demon living inside him, ready to take over, both have many things to tell the other but they need to find the last member of their group and the sooner the better.

 **Ok, so, as I stated at the start of my monologue, I'm currently working on a few projects of my own, which are very important to me and so, forgive me if I am to not publish regularly. Also, this summer will be a true tour de force for me and so I invoke your mercy once more, because I don't wish to ruin this story in any possible way, thus, I need time to write both in a good way and by creating a good plot. SPOILER ALERT: As for the rest of you that complained about Yukino's presence over Ruri, are you satisfied now? I was planning on leaving the stellar mage behind since the begging, but she will have an important role in the future, as for Ruri(again SPOILER) next two chapters will focus on her, on what happened after she sealed Natsu away and on her current situation. So, be prepared for more despair and grief. That said, see you next time, admitting that I will survive until then.**


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